Let me start by saying that I am a retired veteran and my husband is a medically retired veteran who served over 20 years.
Recently, I was disheartened to receive an email from the small local pharmacy that we pick our medications up that said the following:
“We have recently learned that the federal government awarded Express Scripts a $5 billion contract to manage TRICARE’s pharmacy benefits. As a condition of this contract, the DOD instructed Express Scripts to reduce its pharmacy network by 33%. This is being accomplished by eliminating over 15,000 local pharmacies nationwide. Express Scripts is denying new pharmacies their ability to join or offering grossly unreasonable contract terms to be able to participate in the TRICARE Network.”
I know that Democrats have a passion for small businesses and the economy, and this will force a lot of pharmacies to close their doors due to lack of revenue that was being received even with just the retired military population locally. As a veteran and a TRICARE for Life beneficiary (that I pay for), I should be able to go to any pharmacy I choose and avoid the horrible customer service from understaffed chain stores I get to choose from now. It is a slap in the face after my 20 years of honorable service.
Now I ask why the DOD should be allowed to make this huge of a decision, which affects not only the economy but also our nation's veterans? If we start making veterans feel like our support and sacrifice to our nation to include our fallen comrades was worth nothing, you will have no small businesses, which will mess up the already broken economy enough and also you will have no one to vow to serve and protect the country and be willing to give our lives for love of country.
If we cut the very veins that keep us thriving (small businesses), it will hurt the economy and make inflation even worse. It seems like the party in office right now, as well as the organizations that put into place procedures like this, are doing just the opposite. So many people here like to shop local, and this policy is endangering small pharmacies like Tim's and Hedden's.
We as a community and a country need to get mad. This inflation has no end in sight and there are so many people out there struggling. It breaks my heart to see food banks being overrun and homeless communities continue to grow. We continue to be taxed more and more, and nothing is being fixed.
This martial law-style leadership in office is causing the crime to get worse and drug use to inflate within our small communities. Defund the police, you say? Cut off the ability to arrest and actually prosecute the people committing these crimes? I truly believe that every single person should email their representative regardless of party and legitimately ask them how inflation, rising crime and breaking our economy is OK.
Julie Laney
Rainier
