Health professionals think Part D has hurt long-term care patients

On balance, the Medicare Part D benefit has had an adverse impact on long-term care patients. That's the conclusion of a new survey of medical directors, pharmacists, nursing directors, and nurse practitioners funded by sanofi-aventis. The survey found that respondents from all four disciplines generally agreed that Part D has had a negative impact on patient access to needed medications, such as dementia drugs. Almost one-fourth of nursing directors reported delays in medication delivery as a result of waiting for prior authorization approval. Many also noted that Part D has resulted in increased costs to their nursing facility because certain medications ordered by prescribers were not covered by residents' prescription drug plans, forcing the facility to pay for the product. Not doing so would have resulted in survey citations and significant sanctions. The survey obtained a total of 685 responses. Complete results of the survey can be found in The Senior Care Digest Interdisciplinary Report. To obtain a copy, health professionals should contact their sanofi-aventis representative.

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