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(Washington, D.C.) After receiving numerous complaints from pharmacists
and Medicare beneficiaries throughout Arkansas, Senators Blanche Lincoln,
and Mark Pryor, along with U.S. Representatives Marion Berry (AR-01), Vic
Snyder (AR-02), Mike Ross (AR-04), and John Boozman (AR-03), sent a letter
to Mark McClellan, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services (CMS), requesting his immediate attention to a number of operational
problems with the new Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit. These
setbacks make it difficult for pharmacies to provide continuous drug coverage
and prevent many patients from receiving necessary prescriptions.
The operational problems began on January 1, 2006, when pharmacists
tried to use the CMS database to deliver prescriptions to Medicare recipients.
Pharmacists struggled to find patient information in the overwhelmed and
incomplete database, which is lacking information on some individuals eligible
for both Medicare and Medicaid, and does not recognize low-income subsidy
patients. As pharmacists are unable to locate a patient's plan, they are
either turning people away or providing prescription drugs at no charge.
Some Prescription Drug Plans (PDPs) are adding to the confusion by refusing
to fill prescriptions for dual eligible enrollees whose drugs are not covered
under plan formularies. This is a direct violation of the CMS regulations
which require private plans to provide continuous drug coverage during
this transition.
The Arkansas Delegation is also calling on CMS to clarify language that
may conflict with Arkansas state law by allowing Long Term Care facilities
to contract with a single Long Term Care pharmacy on behalf of all its
residents. However, Arkansas state law protects a nursing home patient's
right to choose their own pharmacy. |
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