NACDS, NCPA call Baucus bill "must-enact" legislation

National Association of Chain Drug Stores president/CEO Steven Anderson issued a statement following the introduction of Senate legislation (S.3101) by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D, Mont.), which contains key pharmacy provisions. "Today marks an important step for the nation's pharmacies, but we have a long road ahead. This bill is must-enact legislation, for pharmacies' vitality, patients' health, and the economic wellness of communities. The delay until September 2009 of Medicaid pharmacy reimbursement cuts will provide more time to provide a long-term solution to the pharmacy reimbursement model, which would reimburse pharmacies below cost for Medicaid prescriptions. It also removes imminent financial peril facing many pharmacies."

The National Community Pharmacists Association issued a statement from Stephen L. Giroux, R.Ph., NCPA president, which said, "Chairman Baucus has included two provisions in his Medicare bill that will assure access for the patients of America's 23,000 community pharmacies. Our members and their patients are counting on these provisions to become law to assure their access to prescription drugs. The first provision ends the deliberately slow payment of Part D claims that force community pharmacies to maintain cash flow by taking out huge loans; while the second one delays the implementation of a fundamentally-flawed Medicaid reimbursement formula that forces community pharmacies to be reimbursed below actual generic prescription drug cost."

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