San Francisco pharmacists press conference to discuss new Medicaid generic prescription drug reimbursement rule and the need for Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to use her power to make sure the legislative fix is considered before Congress adjourns for the year. The rule, scheduled to be fully implemented in early 2008, will grossly underpay pharmacists and puts patient access at risk.
WHY:
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services published the Medicaid reimbursement rule on July 17, and the implementation process will be completed in early 2008. At that time, community pharmacies will be faced with a burden that could not only cause difficulty in participating in the Medicaid program, but sustainability in the business community. These challenges will be due to low reimbursement rates based on an inaccurate Average Manufacturer Price (AMP) formula. According to a Government Accountability Office report, on average, pharmacies will be paid 36 percent below their acquisition
costs for the generic prescriptions of Medicaid patients.
The legislative fix is H.R. 3140, the Saving Our Community Pharmacies Act of 2007, which defines the benchmark for pharmacy reimbursement to accurately reflect pharmacy acquisition costs; exclude all sales from mail order facilities and pharmacy benefit manager rebates that aren't provided to retail pharmacy; and include provisions to drive generic utilization that increase government savings.
CONTACT: Jim Gibbon of the National Community Pharmacists Association, +1-202-321-3622, [email protected].
/PRNewswire-USNewswire - Nov. 13/
SOURCE National Community Pharmacists Association
