For most Americans, refilling a regular prescription is simple — picking up their medicine at their local pharmacy on the way home from work or while doing weekly grocery shopping.

But for the more than 9.4 million veterans and beneficiaries of our active duty military currently insured through TRICARE, the Department of Defense (DoD) health insurance program, obtaining some common maintenance prescriptions can be much more complicated. Current DoD policy requires patients to obtain maintenance medications either by mail or often inconveniently by driving to one of just a few dozen military treatment facilities across the United States. Our veterans and the families of our active duty military deserve easier access to health care services.

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According to the Centers for Disease C ontrol , one in two American adults live with a chronic health condition. Additionally, one in five households have a child with a chronic ailment. For the millions of adults and children insured through TRICARE who depend on maintenance medications to manage any one of a hundred common chronic health conditions, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, asthma, and epilepsy, for example, access to maintenance medications should be as simple as it is for the rest of us.

In addition to more convenient access to maintenance medications, TRICARE patients should also have the benefit of consulting directly with a pharmacist they know and trust about their medications rather than having to call an 800 number. As a licensed health care professional, their local pharmacist can discuss treatment and monitor for potentially harmful drug interactions, resulting in better, more consistent quality of care.

Change is possible. In 2016, Congress authorized the DoD to create a pilot pharmacy program that would allow TRICARE patients to conveniently fill maintenance medications at any pharmacy and to consult directly with their local pharmacist. Unfortunately, the pharmacy pilot was never launched, and millions of TRICARE patients continue to face limited local access to maintenance medications, direct consultation, and consistency of care.

Recently, Anthony Kurta, retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral and presidential nominee for Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, expressed his willingness to establish a pharmacy pilot program that will give TRICARE patients easier access to maintenance medications. With the ball in its court, the Department of Defense should act quickly to make this pharmacy pilot a reality, and make the lives of our nation’s heroes and their families a little bit easier.

Gary Profit is a retired U.S. Army brigadier general and now serves as senior director of military programs for Walmart.