Last week, indepedent pharmacists who have been steadily seeing their businesses theatened by Medicare D(isaster) met with Karl Rove to discuss the financial effects that the program is having on them.
Due to inadeuquate a/o late reimbursements, pharmacies are losing money by participating in Medicare D(isaster). Some are considering refusing to participate for fear of non-payment and the possibility of going bankrupt. The problem is cash flow. States used to reimburse pharmacies regularly for rx’s for Medicaid patients. But, under Medicare D(isaster), the payment schedule is determined by the insurers providing coverage. Another aspect of the problem is that under the insurance contracts that offered to the pharmacies were on a “take it or leave it” basis.
A report presented to Karl Rove read, in part, as follows:
“Most independent community pharmacists are small-business Republicans. Pharmacists want to be supportive of this administration, and they can play an active role in the midterm elections. But pharmacists need to be able to point to some corrective actions being taken by the administration.”
continued below
The subject of co-branded cards was also addressed as co-branded cards give the impression that one must use a specific pharmacy. Marvin D. Shepherd, a professor at the College of Pharmacy at the University of Texas, who attended the White House meeting pointed out
“You don’t have advertising on a Social Security card. Why would you have advertising on Medicare prescription drug cards?”
This gives the implication that is the inependent pharmacists could be exploiting the system for their own purposes. However, it is necessary to examine the actual cost that a pharmacy pays for rx’s. Take the case of pharmacist Dennis Song.
he buys from his drug wholesaler a 30-day supply of Lipitor, which lowers cholesterol, for $97.91. The insurers running Part D plans pay him between $99 and $100 on average for the drug…
A 100-day supply of Lisinopril, a blood pressure medicine, usually cost him at least $11 a bottle, and plans offered to pay him $10.
Chuck Oien, a pharmacist from Elgin, N.D., signed contracts with two insurers, as he would lose money every time he filled a prescription.
“I don’t know how much new business will be generated, but I would say I’ve lost more business than what it’s going to generate.”
Some senior citizens in Elgin, N.D., are forced to take their business elsewhere. A customer who needed $8,000 in rx’s last year, will now go to a pharmacy in Bismarck.
It is also necessary to point out that, when a person does go to one of the retail chains that also have a pharmacy, many will also purchase item(s) that they do not intend to. In this manner, a larger chain would as the profit in the second item would help offset the lower cost of the rx.
This administration earlier responded to the concerns of low Medicare D(isaster) reimbursements when gwb said,
“It’s not immoral to make sure that prescription drug pharmacists don’t overcharge the system.”
With that in mind, here are a few more facts.
* Would-be buyers of independent pharmacies far outnumber owners ready to sell.
* Although most independent pharmacies are still sold to chains, more and more buyers are pharmacist couples and pharmacist investor groups.
* There are more than a dozen formulas buyers and sellers can use to determine the value of a community pharmacy.
* Aspiring owners can buy an existing pharmacy, start a new pharmacy, or sign on as a junior partner working toward eventual ownership.
* In order to get top dollar, owners need to start planning for the day they sell out at least five years ahead of time.
Apparently, it isn’t immoral to attempt to force an independent pharmacy out of business.
Why do I have the feeling that gwb will soon say that it is “moral” to shop at Wal-mart?
also available in orange and at MLW
we can find a trillion for the war in Iraq but no money for 46 million uninsured, or for those who have to choose between food or medication.
Good thing Halibuton is not an insurance or an rx company–know how much health care would cost if they were? But, it wouldn’t suprise me in the least if there somehow turned out ot be a “partial” interest in one or both.
Which reminds me Street Kid, here is a link that I bet you will have a lot of fun with 😉
They Rule
I’m going to save that one for sometime when I’m too coffeed up to sleep–lol!
That looks like a cool site Duct, like Kid I’ve saved it and hope to go back to it…check out the ‘Disappeared’.
The second one actually reads as follows:
If you can’t see, how can you use a different link???
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
hey there Kid, ha ha…I had to go to that link just because…seeing as how I COULD ‘see’ it. No one seems to know how to write a coherent sentence anymore do they? I truly believe the ‘commonsense gene’ has been left out of way way to many people..could that be considered an actual disability nowdays do you think?
And the people that can write are told that they are not qualified, as they do not have a journalism degree! (Happenned to a couple good writers–think there’s some apprehension?)
And, here’s another one that happenned a few years back–there was a front page healine in the local paper here that read “Sex Offenders Break Law”–after reading the article, it became clear that the writer was actually referring to a section of the law that required convicted (and released) sex offenders to give some kind of notification if they changed residences. (And it wasn’t being done.)
Anyway, I earlier interviewed w/that paper and got the “you don’t have a journalism degree” bullshit. My revenge was to mail the front page of the paper to Jay Leno’s “Headlines”–they ran it!!!
But, back to what you ask about the commonsense gene–its definitely gone, but, the good thing about that is those who are effected by the lack of a commonsense gene aren’t clamoring for ADA protection!!
Nice to know georgie boy is so concerned about the immorality of overcharging. You know the hypocrisy just drips from him, I’m surprised he hasn’t melted by now.
Maybe all these so called republican pharmacists will wise up when they realize bush isn’t going to do anything to help them and vote for a dem in the midterms..nice thought but I’m not counting on it.
And maybe that was part of the plan all along, to force independent pharmacists out of business so we only have several major chain/monopolies.
Check outthis one!