ALEXANDRIA, VA - The National Rural Health Association is backing three bills that the group contends would ensure the financial viability of community pharmacies.
The legislation backed by NRHA would accelerate reimbursement to pharmacies for Medicare Part D claims, eliminate pending cuts by Medicaid in reimbursement for dispensing generic prescription drugs and would help pharmacies effectively bargain with pharmacy benefit managers who administer prescription drug plans.
The official endorsement came in a letter from George Miller, NRHA's president, to Charles Sewell, the senior vice president for government affairs of the National Community Pharmacist Association. The groups hope that the coordination of efforts will bring more visibility to the pharmacy legislation.
"The National Rural Health Association's endorsements of these common-sense bills is vital to presenting a united front of organizations that Congress will respond to in the near future," Sewell said. "The message should be loud and clear: if these bills are not acted upon, Congress will bear responsibility for the hardships and lack of services that community pharmacy patients will experience."
Two bills, The Fair and Speedy Treatment of Medicare Prescription Drug Act of 2007 (HR 1474) and The Pharmacy Access Improvement Act (SB 1954), both require that electronically submitted Part D claims be paid by Medicare within 14 days by electronic funds transfer. The bills require that paper claims be paid within 30 days.
The NRHA also backs companion bills in the House and the Senate entitled the Community Pharmacy Farness Act of 2007 (HR 971 and SB 2161). They create a narrow exemption to current antitrust law that allows community pharmacies to negotiate as a group. Pharmacy groups contend that large, publicly held pharmacy chains already have this type of bargaining advantage.
"There is a heightened sense of urgency when it comes to the bills designed to fix the problem of slow payment with Medicare and low payment with Medicaid," said Paul David Moore, D.Ph., P & C Management Co., president-elect of NRHA. "The 2006 launch of the Part D program coincided with the closure of 5 percent of community pharmacies. The launch of the changes in Medicaid in 2008 could cause an even greater drop in the number of community pharmacies. This unfortunate development for rural Americans can be brought to a screeching halt, but Congress must act before they adjourn this year."