Chain, independent pharmacy lobby backs MTM rider in health-reform bill

ALEXANDRIA, Va. Chain and independent pharmacy groups are endorsing a new amendment to the Senate’s massive health-reform bill that would boost support for pharmacy-centered medication therapy management programs.

The amendment, sponsored by U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., would fund improvements and a standardized billing platform for MTM provided to seniors covered by the Medicare Part D drug benefit program. The inclusion of Hagan’s language to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act would enable pharmacists “to help more patients take the right medications in the right ways,” noted the National Association of Chain Drug Stores Wednesday.

“Helping patients to understand the importance of taking their medication properly – medication adherence – is a critical way that pharmacists are playing a role in curbing increasing healthcare costs and improving health outcomes for patients,” said NACDS president and CEO Steve Anderson. “We thank Sen. Hagan for her advocacy on behalf of patients and pharmacy – the face of neighborhood healthcare - and we look forward to continuing to work with Congress to help ensure that MTM provisions remain in the final healthcare bill.”

Also endorsing Hagan’s amendment is the National Community Pharmacists Association and its leader, NCPA EVP and CEO Bruce Roberts. MTM programs, the group noted, “have been shown to improve outcomes while lowering healthcare costs.”

Both groups – and their chain and independent pharmacy members – have mounted a sustained lobbying and education campaign to remind lawmakers of the critical and often overlooked role pharmacists can play in delivering more patient-centered and cost-effective health care. If remarks made by Hagan on the Senate floor are any indication, that message appears to be getting through.

“As much as one half of all patients in our country do not follow the doctor’s orders regarding their medications,” Hagan said. Pharmacists, she added, “follow up and educate the patient about his or her medication regimen.”

Two other amendments to the health-reform package also won strong praise from the independent pharmacy group. “NCPA strongly supports an amendment by Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, that allows pharmacies to continue providing Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies [DMEPOS] and Part B drugs to Medicare beneficiaries without purchasing a surety bond,” Roberts noted. “Like the 14 other types of medical professionals that Medicare exempted from the surety bond requirement, pharmacists are licensed and regulated by the states. Requiring surety bonds is duplicative and may lead to loss of patient access to valuable health care services, such as diabetes testing supplies, canes and crutches.

 “We continue to work with Congress on both a permanent pharmacy exemption from DMEPOS accreditation requirements, as well as an extension of the current moratorium, which is scheduled to expire on Dec. 31, 2009,” added NCPA.

The group also endorsed a rider from Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., that would require the Government Accountability Office to conduct the first detailed study in more than 10 years of pharmacists’ cost of dispensing in the Medicaid program. “Private studies have shown community pharmacists to be compensated well below their cost of dispensing,” said Roberts, “and a GAO study could give Congress and the states needed information for measuring the adequacy of the dispensing fees they pay and the impact upon patient access to pharmacy services.”

In general, he added, “NCPA is grateful for Congress’ bipartisan support of community pharmacy in health care reform and we will continue to work with lawmakers as the legislative process continues.”