- Joined
- Mar 5, 2007
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I really hope most of you are following the whole AMP thing since it will have a big impact on community pharmacy. Recently I received an e-mail from APhA government with information on the congressman from my state that I can contact regarding this issue. I hope that many of you also received a similar e-mail and plan to contact your congressman. The e-mail included a sample letter, that I modified slightly and just sent to the congressman from my state. It didn't take much time to send, PLEASE take the time to write to your congressman, you can probably even use the sample letter with a few modifications. Lets stand up for our profession and show that we do have strong lobbying power. I am pasting the sample letter in its unmodified form below. Please reply once you have sent this to your congressman to show that you really care about the future of pharmacy.
Sample Letter:
I am writing as a pharmacist and constituent to urge you to co-sponsor the Fair Medicaid Drug Payment Act of 2007 (H.R. 3700) introduced by Chairman Frank Pallone. This bill would help to ensure that community pharmacists receive appropriate product reimbursement in the Medicaid program.
While I appreciate CMS decision in its final regulation to exclude pharmacy benefit managers and pharmacies serving nursing home and assisted living facilities from the AMP reimbursement calculation, the final regulation continues to include certain pharmacies that may be able to secure generic medications at prices not available to community pharmacies. As a result, the AMP-based reimbursement rate may be set lower than the price at which my community pharmacy can purchase generic medications.
The findings of the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Office of Inspector General (OIG) demonstrate that CMS did not go far enough to address these concerns. Both reports found that for a significant number of medications, pharmacies would be reimbursed less than what they paid to purchase these prescriptions. In some cases, estimates showed pharmacies being paid less than half of the cost at which they bought the medication.
Representative Pallones bill would address many of my concerns with the AMP reimbursement calculation by redefining "retail pharmacy" to remove discounted mail order and other pharmacy prices that are unavailable to community pharmacies. The bill would also boost the FUL payment rate to 300 percent of the AMP and encourage more generic substitutions in the Medicaid program by requiring prior authorization of brand name drugs that have generic alternatives.
I urge you to support H.R. 3700 and I look forward to hearing from you on this issue. Thank you in advance for your time and support.
Sample Letter:
I am writing as a pharmacist and constituent to urge you to co-sponsor the Fair Medicaid Drug Payment Act of 2007 (H.R. 3700) introduced by Chairman Frank Pallone. This bill would help to ensure that community pharmacists receive appropriate product reimbursement in the Medicaid program.
While I appreciate CMS decision in its final regulation to exclude pharmacy benefit managers and pharmacies serving nursing home and assisted living facilities from the AMP reimbursement calculation, the final regulation continues to include certain pharmacies that may be able to secure generic medications at prices not available to community pharmacies. As a result, the AMP-based reimbursement rate may be set lower than the price at which my community pharmacy can purchase generic medications.
The findings of the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Office of Inspector General (OIG) demonstrate that CMS did not go far enough to address these concerns. Both reports found that for a significant number of medications, pharmacies would be reimbursed less than what they paid to purchase these prescriptions. In some cases, estimates showed pharmacies being paid less than half of the cost at which they bought the medication.
Representative Pallones bill would address many of my concerns with the AMP reimbursement calculation by redefining "retail pharmacy" to remove discounted mail order and other pharmacy prices that are unavailable to community pharmacies. The bill would also boost the FUL payment rate to 300 percent of the AMP and encourage more generic substitutions in the Medicaid program by requiring prior authorization of brand name drugs that have generic alternatives.
I urge you to support H.R. 3700 and I look forward to hearing from you on this issue. Thank you in advance for your time and support.
