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Inside This Issue - News
Walmart has set its sights on increasing its role in the U.S. health care system and is exploring the possibility of offering a wider range of services. One of the missing pieces for Walgreen Co. in its transformation into a “health and daily living” retailer has been a customer loyalty program. But that won’t be for much longer. Pharmacy advocates have condemned the federal government’s approval of reimbursement cuts to the profession in Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program. A federal appeals court earlier this month ruled that Congress did not overstep its authority by requiring people to have health insurance or pay a penalty on their taxes beginning in 2014, as called for under a core provision of the Obama administration’s health care reform law. Attendees at the Canadian Association of Chain Drug Stores’ Canadian Drugstore Conference, held here late last month, were cautioned to expect continued volatile markets for another year or two. Sandra Aylward, vice president of professional and regulatory affairs for Lawtons Drugs and Sobeys Pharmacy Group, has been named chairman of the Canadian Association of Chain Drug Stores (CACDS). The National Association of Chain Drug Stores has challenged the proposed federal upper limit (FUL) list for pharmacy reimbursements from Medicaid. CVS Caremark Corp. has launched Pharmacy Advisor for chronic cardiovascular care, a pharmacy-based approach to managing one of the most prevalent and expensive chronic illnesses. Legislation that would provide states with incentives for using generic medications through the Medicaid program has been endorsed by the National Association of Chain Drug Stores. Seventy state and national trade associations and more than 60 companies have petitioned the “super committee” that is exploring ways to trim the federal deficit to clear the way for states to start collecting sales tax on Internet and catalog purchases. More than half (52%) of the nation’s office-based doctors (291,000 physicians) now use electronic prescribing, and 94% of retail pharmacies nationwide are now connected and receiving electronic prescriptions, according to Surescripts. The media portray diabetes as an epidemic. Is that far-fetched? Not according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which estimates one in three Americans could have the disease by 2050.
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