{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://buddycarter.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=10657", "Carter sounds alarm on conflict of interest threatening veterans\u2019 access to prescription medications", "2022-09-29", "2022", "2022-09", "Republican", "House", "GA", "Earl L. \"Buddy\" Carter", "C001103", "buddycarter.house.gov", "buddycarter", "https://buddycarter.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx?DocumentTypeID=27", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 Congressman Buddy Carter (R-GA) and Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) sent a letter today to Seileen Mullen, the Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, seeking answers about the recent announcement that a pharmacy benefit manager (PBM), Express Scripts, will strip pharmaceutical access away from TRICARE patients and their families, a move that presents a clear conflict of interest by financially benefitting pharmacies the PBM owns.\n\nApproximately 15,000 local pharmacies will be forced out of the TRICARE network, impacting nearly 400,000 beneficiaries\u2019 access to their local pharmacy altogether. The letter also notes that 2022 pharmacy contracts will expire on October 24, rather than the end of the year.\n\nIn the letter, the Members wrote:\n\n\u201cPharmacists continue to be one of the most accessible health care providers in the United States. Over 90 percent of Americans live within five miles of a community pharmacy, and 76.5 percent of pharmacies in rural areas are independent community pharmacies. As you know, in addition to dispensing medications and vaccines, community pharmacies provide services that lead to better health outcomes, lower overall administrative fees, and valuable in-person consultations with a health care provider.\u201d\n\nCarter and Cotton were joined on the letter by 99 of their colleagues.\n\nRead the full letter here.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T03:08:33Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://buddycarter.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=10657"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5847701579332352, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}