Tag: National Community Pharmacists Association

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The National Community Pharmacists Association, as part of a congressional hearing on Tuesday, submitted a statement on the record pushing the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust and Consumer Rights to scrutinize the role of vertically integrated for-profit companies that have affiliated with pharmacy benefit managers. “The ability of PBMs to game the system not only results in the closure of pharmacies in rural and underserved communities...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A group of nine pharmacy associations, including the National Community Pharmacists Association, has filed a friend of the court brief in the Eighth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals defending North Dakota’s right to regulate pharmacy benefit managers. The case, Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) v. Wehbi, is the first to consider at the federal appellate level the scope of the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous decision last year upholding an Arkansas...

WASHINGTON – Noridian Healthcare Solutions has posted FAQs for Jurisdictions A and D on the impact of the Philips recall on coverage and billing for Medicare beneficiaries, AAHomecare has reported.  Among the questions in the FAQ:  How should DME suppliers address the situation with Medicare beneficiaries who are in the first 90-days adherence metric in the PAP and RAD Local Coverage Determinations (LCDs)?  Response: During the Public Health Emergency...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – B. Douglas Hoey, the CEO of the National Community Pharmacists Association, participated in a roundtable discussion with Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and leaders of several other provider organizations to discuss the expanding role of community pharmacies in health care.  Hoey discussed four priorities for independent pharmacists:  Eliminating retroactive price concessions, known as pharmacy DIR fees, which are imposed on pharmacies by...

Registration is now open for the National Community Pharmacists Association’s 2021 Annual Convention, Oct. 9-12 in Charlotte, N.C. This year’s in-person event is a great opportunity to reconnect with neighborhood pharmacy colleagues and allies at the premier event for owners and their staff, says NCPA President Brian Caswell. “Though travel was curbed and meetings were held online, in many ways, independent pharmacy came together as never before to serve our communities, adapt to...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The National Community Pharmacists Association supports a bill in the New York state legislature that would require reimbursement to be no lower than the Medicaid fee-for-service program. Under the proposed bill, SB 6603, what a PBM reimburses pharmacies must be based on the national average drug acquisition cost (NADAC) - a simple average of the drug acquisition costs submitted by pharmacies - plus a professional dispensing fee. The professional dispensing fee is established...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - The National Community Pharmacists Association is extending its “The Truth” campaign, which resulted in 2.5 million impressions on social media and more than 27,000 letters to state lawmakers in its first 12 weeks. First launched in October 2020 and fully launched in January, the campaign seeks to educate state legislators, regulators and patients about how pharmacy benefit managers manipulate drug costs, steer patients to PBM-affiliated pharmacies and...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – After failing to get relief on direct and indirect remuneration fees through legislative and regulatory pathways, the National Community Pharmacists Association says it was left no choice but to file a lawsuit to stop what it says is an “existential threat” to independent pharmacies.  The lawsuit, filed in January against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, states that the fees are without reasonable transparency,...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - The National Community Pharmacists Association welcomed the news that community pharmacies will be included in the network of health care providers approved to give COVID-19 vaccines. “Community pharmacies outnumber any of the largest chains, and they very often serve populations for whom there are no other accessible health care providers,” said NCPA CEO Douglas Hoey. “Defeating COVID-19 means relying on community pharmacies. Based on what we are hearing from...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - The National Community Pharmacists Association says that a partnership between two pharmacy benefit managers will harm local pharmacies.In a letter to The National Association of Attorneys General, the NCPA asks for scrutiny of the partnership between Express Scripts and Prime Therapeutics.Express Scripts is owned by Cigna and controls prescriptions for 75 million people; Prime Therapeutics is owned by a consortium of Blue Cross Blue Shield companies and covers more than 30 million...