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Washington, DC – U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and U.S. Senators Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) today urged top Medicare officials to mandate prompt payments to pharmacists who are dispensing prescriptions under the new Medicare drug plan.
In a letter sent to Health and Human Services Secretary, Michael Leavitt, and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator, Mark McClellan, the lawmakers said delaying payments for up to three months could force some pharmacies out of business, and curtail senior citizens’ access to the medicines they need.
Under the new plan, which took effect on January 1, 2006, pharmacists do not receive a prompt payment for the prescriptions they dispense. Previously, under State Medicaid programs, participating pharmacies were reimbursed twice a month for covered prescriptions. Now, under the new Medicare prescription drug program, private drug plans have between 60 and 90 days to reimburse a pharmacist for a drug.
In separate letters to Secretary Leavitt and Administrator McClellan, the New Jersey lawmakers asked that CMS mandate prescription drug reimbursements be made to pharmacies within 14 days of the drug being dispensed to help independent pharmacists cover the cost of dispensing the drugs.
The three lawmakers wrote that throughout the flawed implementation of the new Medicare prescription drug benefit pharmacists have been working endlessly to ensure that our nation's seniors and disabled are able to receive their prescription drugs, all the while not receiving payment. They feel this is unacceptable, especially in light of the fact that private prescription drug plans are quite capable of reimbursing pharmacies in a more timely fashion.
"Earlier this week I met with community pharmacists who have been forced to absorb the cost of their customers’ medications in the hopes of being reimbursed once the problems with the system are resolved," Pallone said. "Some pharmacists had no choice but to take out loans in order to keep their doors open. These pharmacists should not suffer because of the failure of the Bush administration. They deserve to be reimbursed in a timely fashion."
“This disastrous Medicare plan has already confused senior citizens and left states holding the bag for millions of dollars,” said Lautenberg. “Now we find that it is putting local drugstores in jeopardy by making them wait months to get paid. We can do better – and we must do better.”
“The administration’s handling of the prescription drug plan has set a new standard for incompetence,” Menendez said. “Seniors are wondering whether they’ll have access to the medicines they need, our state has been left footing the bill for the federal government’s mismanagement, and now neighborhood pharmacists are being forced to bear costs they can’t afford. The Bush administration needs to fix this problem immediately.” |
