Independent Pharmacies Fare Well under Medicare Part D Plans, OIG Report Claims |
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Written by U.S. Insurance News
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Tuesday, 22 January 2008 |
This isn't what politicians or lobbyists on Capitol Hill were expecting to hear.
A new report released by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) debunks claims from the independent drugstore lobby that independent pharmacies are being hurt by Medicare Part D plans, according to the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA).
According to the report, independent pharmacies are paid an average of 18 percent more by Part D plans than their acquisition costs for medicine. In addition, Part D payments to rural pharmacies, on average, exceed payments to urban pharmacies. In fact, two-thirds of community pharmacies belong to group purchasing organizations, which allow them to collectively bargain-and receive-higher Part D reimbursement rates.
"This report will raise eyebrows among policymakers who have been led to believe that independent pharmacists were in dire straits because of the Medicare drug benefit," said Mark Merritt, president and CEO of the PCMA. "It runs counter to rhetoric from the independent drugstore lobby on the need for costly legislation granting pharmacies special antitrust exemptions and payment cycles that are twice as fast as those received by doctors and hospitals."
Separate analysis by CRA International shows that pharmacy antitrust exemptions would increase prescription drug costs for Medicare and commercial payors by up to 11.8 percent, or $29.6 billion over five years. Furthermore, legislation that would make Medicare prescription drug plans pay drugstores twice as fast as Medicare pays other providers could cost the program and its beneficiaries more than $3 billion over the next ten years, according to a recent study from PricewaterhouseCoopers.
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