Walgreens, CVS want doctors' Medicare pay to vaccinate

As the nation's retail pharmacies move deeper into the business of providing healthcare services, they now want pharmacists to be paid by Medicare to immunize the nation's seniors. Under legislation that is gaining rare bipartisan support and momentum in the U.S. House and Senate, particularly for a Congressional health bill, pharmacists would be paid to administer vaccines under Medicare part B , which is the part of the health insurance program for elderly Americans designed to cover physician services and certain outpatient procedures. The pharmacies have formed a coalition known as "The Patient Access to Pharmacists' Care Coalition," to push for the legislation, known as the Pharmacy and Medically Underserved Areas of Enhancement Act.