I have dedicated my life to service of my country, Arkansas, and our veterans. I always strive to ensure that our eligible active, reserve, National Guard warriors, veterans, military retirees, and their families receive the medical care promised by Congress for their service. However, Arkansas is about to implement a law that will deny them--and thousands of other patients--access to their prescription medicines.

Health coverage for military members is managed by the Department of Defense's TRICARE program. It is important to have TRICARE's pharmacy benefits supported by a national company to ensure that active-duty military members can get their medications reliably and affordably, no matter where they are.

Like many large employers and other health plans, TRICARE contracts with the pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) Express Scripts and its affiliate specialty pharmacy Accredo. Express Scripts sends prescribed medications to beneficiaries for common medical conditions like high blood pressure. Accredo ships specialty medications such as chemotherapy or biologics for medical conditions such as cancers, blood diseases, and inflammatory organ diseases, which are generally more complex and expensive. Most of these medicines are not stocked by neighborhood pharmacies because they require specific temperature controls and........

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