Montana Community Pharmacy Owner Thanks Sen. Baucus for Including Common-Sense Reimbursement Provisions in Med...( MISSOULA Mont. June 10 -- Sen. M...),Health

MISSOULA, Mont., June 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), chair of the Senate Finance Committee, has introduced a Medicare bill -- S.3101 -- that includes pharmacy-related provisions to provide prompt payment of Medicare Part D prescription drug claims and delay the implementation of Medicaid reimbursement cuts for generic prescription drugs. In response, Eric R. Shields, RPh, owner of A & C Drug in Missoula, MT and a member of the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA), issued the following statement:

"I wanted to personally thank Senator Baucus for his strong leadership in introducing S.3101, which is a health care bill that includes two provisions that ensure patients will continue to have access to community pharmacies in Montana and across America.

"The first provision ends the deliberately slow payment of Part D claims that force community pharmacies to maintain cash flow by taking out huge loans; while the second one delays the implementation of a fundamentally-flawed Medicaid reimbursement formula that forces community pharmacies to be reimbursed below actual generic prescription drug cost. Senator Baucus recognizes that community pharmacies are on the frontlines of our nation's health care system, and that these flawed pharmacy reimbursement policies were threatening to put community pharmacies out of business."

BACKGROUND:

Prompt Payment

In 2006, the first full year of Medicare Part D's implementation, five percent of America's community pharmacies permanently closed their doors. Ever since Part D's implementation on Jan. 1, 2006, community pharmacies have experienced cash-flow problems that have necessitated the need for loans in the tens to hundreds of thousands dollars. The pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) responsible for administering the various Part D plans are paid by the government in advance, and could help remedy the problem, but rather than paying promptly, they choose to ear
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