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Majority in House of Representatives
support common-sense fix to Medicare Part D prescription drug plan
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[October 16, 2007]
ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Bipartisan support for
prompt reimbursement of Medicare Part D prescription drug claims to
community pharmacies continues to grow.
H.R.1474, the Fair and Speedy Treatment of Medicare Prescription
Drug Claims Act of 2007, has just signed its 220th co-sponsor. In
response, Bruce Roberts, R.Ph., executive vice president and CEO of
the National Community Pharmacists Association, issued the following
statement on Monday:
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 "A majority of the U.S. House of Representatives agrees -- it's time
we put our nation's Medicare patients first. Slow government
reimbursement has left some patients without access to their
prescription medications and their community pharmacists, which is
(a) trend that can (be) halted by taking corrective action. That is
why today, upon the signing of the 220th co-sponsor, I urge Chairman
Rangel, D-N.Y., and Subcommittee Chairman Pete Stark, D-Calif., to
quickly consider H.R. 1474 in their respective committees and report
them to the House floor for a final vote this year.""Any
suggestion that quicker reimbursement is a logistical impossibility
is refuted by the evidence in the Medicaid program, that still
enjoys prompt reimbursement," Roberts added.
In 2006, after enjoying years of stability in the market,
community pharmacies saw 5 percent of their colleagues close their
doors. The only new factor in the marketplace was the introduction
of the Medicare Part D program and the slow-down of reimbursement.
Delay of reimbursement for community pharmacists often can be
attributed to the practices of the pharmacy benefit managers.
Pharmacy benefit managers are the largely unregulated drug middlemen
that administer the prescription drug benefit portion of health
insurance plans for private companies, unions and governments. These
groups are paid in advance by the federal government to run the
plans, while community pharmacists, the foundation of our nation's
small-business owners, are forced to wait for reimbursement.
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 H.R. 1474 requires that accurate Part D claims submitted
electronically be paid within 14 days by electronic funds transfer
and paper claims within 30 days by the administrators of pharmacy
benefits managers for Part D plans. The Senate companion bill,
S. 1954, the Pharmacy Access Improvement Act of 2007, has 20
co-sponsors, including Max Baucus, D-Mont., who is the Senate
Finance Committee chair and ranking member, and Charles Grassley,
R-Iowa.
Further evidence that H.R. 1474 is a much-needed bill can be
found in the University of Texas at Austin's Center for
Pharmacoeconomic Studies report called the "Length of Prescription
Drug Payment Times by Medicare Part D Plans."
Click here to learn more.
[To download Adobe Acrobat Reader for
the PDF file, click
here.]
The National Community Pharmacists Association, founded in 1898,
represents the nation's community pharmacists, including the owners
of more than 23,000 pharmacies. The nation's independent pharmacies,
independent pharmacy franchises and independent chains dispense
nearly half of the nation's retail prescription medicines. To learn
more, go to www.ncpanet.org.
[Text from file received from the
National Community Pharmacists
Association]
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