Capitol Corner November 2025

In This Issue

• Minnesota Submits Rural Health Transformation Application
• Congressional Healthcare Hearings
  
• Defining Affordability in Minnesota
  
  

Minnesota Submits Rural Health Transformation Application

• Investing in data infrastructure: “Supporting the acquisition of data management software, licenses or technical assistance and skill-building for health care providers… to increase efficiencies and improve quality of care and financial performance. Rural providers will have the ability to purchase, license, or upgrade platforms that integrate clinical, claims, pharmacy, and lab data.”
  
• Addressing gaps in pharmacy access: “In 2024, more than 86,000 Minnesotans outside of Metropolitan Statistical Areas lived more than 15 miles from the nearest pharmacy, and more than 336,000 lived in at-risk communities served by only one pharmacy—limiting access to medication refills, vaccinations, medication therapy management, and other essential services.”
• Improving access to core health services: “Gaps in access to primary care, pharmacy services, oral health, behavioral health, maternal health, and other core services in rural Minnesota lead to longer travel times, forgone care, higher expenses, and increased risk of poorer health outcomes.”

Minnesota’s proposal outlines five strategic goals for deploying federal resources:

• Improve health outcomes for rural Minnesotans with—or at risk for—cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease.
• Build education pathways and expand training opportunities to grow a sustainable rural health care workforce.
• Increase access to care through community-based screenings, preventive services, chronic disease management, mobile care, technology-enabled care, and expanded frontline workers.
• Strengthen partnerships among providers to deliver expanded services using collaborative models and advanced technology.
• Support the long-term financial stability of rural providers through targeted investments in technology, data infrastructure, and shared systems addressing rural-specific needs.

These goals align closely with the Administration’s priorities around Workforce Development, Sustainable Access, Tech Innovation, Innovative Care, and the broader effort to Make Rural America Healthy Again.

Congressional Healthcare Hearings

Congress recently held a series of high-profile hearings across three major House and Senate committees to examine Medicare beneficiaries’ access to pharmacist-provided care. On November 19, 2025, lawmakers convened to discuss the role of pharmacists in improving care coordination, addressing rising health care costs, and strengthening the U.S. medication supply chain. The hearings included:

• Senate Finance Committee — “The Rising Cost of Health Care: Considering Meaningful Solutions for All Americans.”
• House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health — “Modernizing Care Coordination to Prevent and Treat Chronic Disease.”
• Senate Special Committee on Aging — “Made in America: Restoring Trust in Our Medicines.”

In its statements submitted to both the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee, ASHP urged Congress to move forward with Medicare coverage for pharmacists’ clinical services, protect funding for pharmacy residencies, remove rebate-based proposals from Medicare drug price negotiations, and enact comprehensive pharmacy benefit manager reforms.

Defining Affordability in Minnesota

The Minnesota Prescription Drug Affordability Board (PDAB) met on November 18. The Board continues to convene monthly, while its advisory body, the Prescription Drug Affordability Advisory Council (PDAAC), meets quarterly. At this meeting, the PDAAC presented its Survey Report on how members define “affordability”—a project led by Dr. Joel Farley of the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy, who gathered input from the council’s 17 stakeholder representatives.

The Board also received a briefing from the Data Practices Office on the Minnesota Data Practices Act, and heard an update from Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) on escalating prescription drug costs within the state’s two largest self-funded public employee health plans, SEGIP and PEIP. MMB reported continued cost growth driven by rising utilization of GLP-1 medications, the introduction of new oncology therapies, and broader prescription drug inflation—showing a 17% increase this year on top of last year’s 15%, with no signs of slowing.

During closing discussion, Board members emphasized their interest in hearing directly from organizations shaping prescription drug costs and affordability. Several manufacturers have already expressed interest in presenting, and the PDAB hopes to also hear from Minnesota pharmacies, wholesalers, and pharmacy benefit managers. MPhA and its Minnesota Pharmacy Alliance partners expect to present at an upcoming meeting.

In the Executive Director’s report, the PDAB outlined its timeline for finalizing the methodology and data sources that will be used to establish an Upper Payment Limit (UPL). That work is expected to continue through May, with completion targeted by the end of the month. The next PDAB meeting is scheduled for December 9.