MO Pharmacist November 2022

CEO UPDATE

Another Busy Holiday Season Is Here Again by RON FITZWATER, CAE, MBA

A s we enter this Holiday Season, I wish a Happy Thanksgiving, Mer ry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Happy New Year to you and your family. It is always a busy time of the year. I hope you have special times with your

tional for most of the session. They fulfilled their constitutionallymandated responsibility of passing a state budget and passed a limited number of bills. Unfortunately, there were a lot of issues left unfinished as the Senate struggled to find common ground onmany issues.Their

"The Missouri Pharmacy Association will be entering 2023 with an aggressive agenda for the new year. "

Ron Fitzwater, CAE, MBA, is the CEO of the Missouri Pharmacy Association.

family and friends over the next several weeks. If your plans include traveling, I alsowish you safe travels. By the time you read this; I will have been listening to Christmas music for several weeks. It is amagical time that passes by much too quickly. The Holiday Season also begins the conclusion of the current year and the plan ning for the new year just around the corner. Closing out 2022 brings about mixed feelings. When the year started last January 1, there was optimism for the upcoming year on several fronts. First, we had been through over 20 months of dealingwith the COVIDpandemic. Although a new variant of COVIDwas work ing its way throughmuch of the country, there was a general feeling that we were on the back side of the pandemic. I think that has proven to be essentially correct. Our country got back to a more normal operating environment as the year progressed. Second, on January 1, 2022, there was an optimism that the state legislature would begin to address some of the critical issues fac ing pharmacists in our state.That quickly got derailed as the Missouri Senate was dysfunc

inability to gain traction during the session caused hardship for many groups and busi nesses that were looking to the legislature to address some critical issues impacting them. At the end of the session inmid-May, most of those issues were still outstanding. That leads to the final activity during the Holiday Season-ushering in the newyear and the optimism that it often brings. The Mis souri Pharmacy Association will be entering 2023 with an aggressive agenda for the new year. In September 2022, the MPA Board of Directors finalized and approved a compre hensive newStrategic Plan for the association. MPA committees are already underway in implementing the items outlined in the plan. MPA president, Jerry Callahan, did a great job of outlining the new Strategic Plan in his article that is earlier in the magazine. I hope that you are involved in one of the committees that is implementing these programs. If not, there are plenty of places for you to plug in. Just let me know at ron@morx.com where you would like to participate. In addition to the education, membership development and professional affairs activities, the Legislative

Committee has been hard at work developing the legislative strategy for the newLegislative Session that will begin on January 4, 2023.We are optimistic that we will have amuchmore productive session in 2023. For the past month, two task forces have been working on critical pieces of the 2023 MPA Legislative Agenda. One task force is dealing with the issue regarding Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) and their impact on higher drug prices for patients and lower reimbursements for pharmacists. A second task force is working on proposals to expand the practice of pharmacy in Missouri so that pharmacists can practice your profession at the top of your license and training. The full Legislative Committee is reviewing several other issues that could become part of the final Legislative Agenda for the 2023Missouri Legislative Session. Each of these task forces will present their findings to the MPA Board of Directors at their meeting on December 1. MPA staff is already beginning to identify leg islators to approach about being bill sponsors for us. Your work in getting to know legislators

4 Missouri PHARMACIST | Volume 96, Issue III | November 2022