Jerry Moran: “I am here on the Senate floor today to call attention to my colleagues. I want them to recognize--and, really, Americans…”

“I am here on the Senate floor today to call attention to my colleagues. I want them to recognize--and, really, Americans to recognize--the significant crisis that is happening not only in my home State of Kansas but across the country. All of us face this in our home States. The independent and community pharmacies in our Nation have been struggling for years to survive, and their situation, unfortunately, is deteriorating rapidly. Independent and community pharmacies play an invaluable role in the healthcare of our country and especially in rural communities, like those in my home State. For many Americans, the local pharmacist is not just a convenient healthcare provider, but it is also someone with whom they feel most comfortable in receiving medical advice. I remember my dad, into his nineties, declined to go see the doctor because he knew they would find something wrong with him. But when he had a cup of coffee at the drugstore, he talked with the pharmacist, who provided him with healthcare, occasionally putting a blood pressure cuff on his arm and suggesting to my dad: Ray, you need to go to the doctor. They are really important people in our communities, and they are highly trusted; and their advice is invaluable as we try to make certain that all Americans are more healthy. Local pharmacists know their patients, their health situations, and even their families, as is the norm in tight-knit rural communities.…”