{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://norman.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=1499", "Rep. Norman Leads Letter Addressing TRICARE Pharmacies and the Dept. of Defense Health Agency\u2019s Recent Contract Changes", "2022-10-27", "2022", "2022-10", "Republican", "House", "SC", "Ralph Norman", "N000190", "norman.house.gov", "norman", "https://norman.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx?DocumentTypeID=27", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2013 On Wednesday, Rep. Ralph Norman (SC-5) led a letter to Secretary of Defense, Lloyd J. Austin, seeking information from the Department of Defense Health Agency (DHA) regarding its newly re-negotiated contract with Cigna/Express Scripts (ESI). This contract removes the option for many TRICARE beneficiaries to utilize the pharmacy of their choice.\n\nThe letter was co-signed by 27 additional Members of the House of Representatives, and has the support of the National Community Pharmacists Association, American Pharmacist Association, and Military Officers Association of America.\n\nBackground\n\nAs recently as 2021, over 56,000 pharmacy retailers were recognized within the TRICARE network. TRICARE beneficiaries include active-duty service members, veterans, and their families.\n\nHowever, as a result of DHA's newly negotiated contracts with Cigna/ESI, nearly 15,000 pharmacy retailers are no longer part of the TRICARE network, as of October 24th.\n\nThe exodus of pharmacy retailers leaving the network leaves roughly 400,000 beneficiariesliving in suburban, rural, and underserved communities with limited access to care.\n\nRep. Norman's letter seeks answers from the Secretary of Defense concerning this change, the appropriateness of these negotiated terms, and the impact this decision will have on TRICARE beneficiaries across the nation.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T03:20:33Z"]], "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://norman.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=1499"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8382550440728664, "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"}