Kentucky Pharmacists Event Urging Senate Minority Leader McConnell to Fix Flawed Medicaid Drug Reimbursement Rule
FRANKFORT, Ky., December 05, 2007 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Kentucky pharmacist press conference to discuss new Medicaid generic prescription drug reimbursement rule and the need for Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to use his 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.
, Executive Director of the Kentucky Pharmacists Association
, RPh, Owner of Capital Pharmacy and Medical Equipment in Frankfort
, RPh, Co-Owner of Wayne's Pharmacy in Frankfort
December 6, 2007, at 10:00 a.m.
Capital Pharmacy and Medical Equipment
662 East Main Street
Frankfort, KY
502-223-2827
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.
Sen. McConnell can help move the legislative fix S.1951, the , through the Senate before it is too late. The bill contains measures that achieve fairness with the reimbursement system and preserving patient access to prescription drugs by:
-- Removing discounted mail order and pharmacy benefit manager prices that are unavailable to community pharmacies and unfairly lower than the overall AMP formula
-- Requiring Medicaid payment be calculated using the weighted average of the Medicaid generic drugs based on their actual utilization
-- Restoring the practice of using three available generic products for the calculation; increases the maximum allowable reimbursement from 250 percent of the AMP to 300 percent
-- Encouraging more inexpensive generic drug usage by requiring prior authorization of brand name drugs.
CONTACT: Chip Riddleberger of National Community Pharmacists Association,+1-410-725-6024, chip.riddleberger@ncpanet.org
Web site: http://www.ncpanet.org//
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