BGR Government Affairs Loses Pharmacy Client After 10-Month Engagement

A Short-Lived Lobbying Relationship Ends With Two Quarters of Zero Revenue

Dignity & Wellness Patient Solutions ended its federal lobbying relationship with BGR Government Affairs LLC effective December 31, 2025, according to an LDA termination filing disclosed in the first quarter of 2026. The engagement lasted roughly 10 months and generated $70,000 in total revenue for BGR — all of it concentrated in the first two quarters of 2025.

The lobbying disclosure termination caps a relationship that appeared to wind down well before the formal end date. BGR reported $0 in income from the client in both Q3 and Q4 of 2025, and listed no lobbyists or issues on the final quarterly report.

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Why It Matters

A Small Account at a Big Firm

The $70,000 that Dignity & Wellness Patient Solutions paid BGR Government Affairs over the life of the engagement was modest by the firm's standards. BGR's health care portfolio includes clients like the American Health Care Association ($600,000), Kidney Care Partners ($360,000), Novartis ($240,000), Stryker ($240,000), and UnitedHealth Group ($180,000). DWP ranked among the firm's smallest health accounts.

The financial trajectory tells its own story. BGR earned $40,000 in Q1 2025 and $30,000 in Q2, then nothing for the remainder of the year. The four lobbyists assigned to the account — Joel D. Bailey, Raghav Aggarwal, Christopher P. Kelly, and John W. Stone — were not among BGR's top recognized lobbyists for 2025.

No Replacement Firm — Yet

Based on available lobbying disclosures, Dignity & Wellness Patient Solutions has not filed a new federal lobbying registration with another firm. BGR was the company's only registered lobbying firm during the past year, and no new engagement has surfaced in disclosure records. That could change — the underlying policy issues facing DWP's business have not been resolved.

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The LDA Termination in Broader Context

What DWP Was Lobbying On

BGR's work for Dignity & Wellness Patient Solutions focused on health care issues related to long-term care pharmacy services. All quarterly filings categorized the work under "Health Issues (HCR)," with the specific description limited to providing "strategic counsel and advocate on issues related to providing LTC pharmacy services."

Notably, across all four quarterly reports, BGR never identified a single specific bill as a lobbying target — even as relevant legislation was introduced during the engagement.

The Policy Landscape

The long-term care pharmacy sector is under financial pressure from the Inflation Reduction Act's restructuring of Medicare Part D drug pricing. The Senior Care Pharmacy Coalition has warned that IRA pricing policies could force widespread LTC pharmacy closures, with survey data indicating over 80% of nursing home residents could face loss of access to pharmacy services by 2026.

Congress has begun to respond. H.R. 5031, the *Preserving Patient Access to Long-Term Care Pharmacies Act*, was introduced on August 22, 2025 — during BGR's engagement with DWP — by Reps. Beth Van Duyne (R-TX) and Brad Schneider (D-IL). The bill would establish a temporary supply fee for negotiated Part D drugs to keep LTC pharmacies financially viable. A companion bill, S. 3159, was introduced in the Senate. Both remain in early committee stages with no floor action.

Bipartisan PBM reform legislation has passed both chambers, but it does not directly address the LTC reimbursement problem.

No Congressional Mentions or Hearing Activity

A search of congressional hearings and member communications from the past year returned no mentions of Dignity & Wellness Patient Solutions. The company did not appear as a subject of testimony, committee discussion, or lawmaker statements during the period of its BGR engagement.

The Client's Background

DWP is a privately held home health care services company headquartered in Andover, Massachusetts, with 201–500 employees. It operates as a parent company providing shared services to its portfolio companies, most notably Injured Workers Pharmacy (IWP), described as the nation's largest full-service workers' compensation pharmacy. IWP has served over 500,000 injured workers and submits claims to the U.S. Department of Labor under the federal workers' compensation program.

In 2023, IWP agreed to pay $10 million to settle allegations related to improper handling of controlled substances and claims submitted to the DOL, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts. That settlement preceded the company's decision to pursue federal lobbying registration through BGR.

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The BGR Team That Worked the Account

BGR assigned four lobbyists to the Dignity & Wellness Patient Solutions account. Their backgrounds:

  • Joel D. Bailey: Nearly 14 years of House experience, including serving as Chief of Staff to Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) and Legislative Director for Reps. Brad Ashford (D-NE) and Jim Matheson (D-UT). Democratic-side connections.
  • John W. Stone: Over seven years in the House, including a stint as Senior Counsel on the Energy and Commerce Committee — the panel with primary jurisdiction over health care and pharmacy policy. Also interned for Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI). Republican-side connections.
  • Christopher P. Kelly: Under five years of Senate experience, serving as Legislative Assistant to Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN).
  • Raghav Aggarwal: No documented congressional staffer background.

The team had a bipartisan mix and included one lobbyist — Stone — with direct committee experience relevant to health care. However, none of the four were among BGR's most prominent lobbyists.

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Bottom Line

DWP faces a policy environment where the financial pressures on LTC pharmacies are reported to be intensifying, not receding. The key legislation that could provide relief — H.R. 5031 and S. 3159 — remains in early stages. No replacement lobbying firm has been disclosed.

The company spent $70,000 on BGR Government Affairs lobbying over two quarters, then stopped paying while the engagement continued for two more quarters before the formal termination. BGR never targeted specific legislation in its filings, despite H.R. 5031 being introduced during the active period of the relationship.

DWP has not, as of the most recent disclosure records, hired another firm to continue its federal advocacy on LTC pharmacy issues. For a company whose core business model faces direct pressure from federal drug pricing policy — and which has a recent $10 million federal settlement in its history — the absence of a Washington presence is worth watching.