The Urban Institute just issued a study that sheds new light on the persistent and vexing problem of access to prescription drugs in the U.S. Working with data from a recent Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, researchers concluded that in the pre-COVID years 2018-2019 almost 13 million American adults either did without needed medications or held
FORT WORTH — FDS, a leading pharmacy technology company, and its subsidiary Amplicare, a provider of a decision-automation platform for health care providers, announced the availability of Navigate, an online enrollment platform that enables pharmacies and patients to remotely collaborate on Medicare plan comparisons and enrollment. Navigate leverages Amplicare’s proven and trusted plan comparison capabilities to showcase
ARLINGTON, Va. – The National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) is welcoming the strongest signal yet by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that a standardized pharmacy quality program should be created to help reduce patients’ out-of-pocket drug costs and to help patients maintain critical access to their pharmacies. Currently, quality measures
DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens will open 14 UnitedHealthcare Medicare services centers in stores in five metropolitan areas as part of a multiyear agreement. “We are expanding access to UnitedHealthcare Medicare resources to better serve our members, providing them with all the valuable benefits they have come to expect from their UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage plans plus
ARLINGTON, Va. – A National Association of Chain Drug Stores ) op-ed published by Morning Consult today describes the role of community pharmacy practice and of NACDS members’ philanthropic initiatives in helping to prevent and manage diabetes. “Two of the central areas where pharmacies and pharmacists have the greatest impact in diabetes are medication management and behavior change
WASHINGTON — Millions of U.S. seniors can now take part in a Medicare program designed to prevent prediabetes from progressing to type 2 diabetes. Almost half of Americans 65 and older have prediabetes, and many don’t know it. In addition to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, prediabetes puts people at risk of heart
WASHINGTON — The effort to replace Obamacare has taken divergent paths, neither of which seems likely to produce a lasting alternative. Republicans, led by Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, proposed taking funds budgeted for the Affordable Care Act and sending it to states as block grants along with the
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The National Community Pharmacists Association urged leaders in the House of Representatives to enact a slate of bills that would foster access to pharmacy services in Medicare. NCPA said Monday that it submitted comments for a House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee hearing on Medicare and offered suggestions to enhance the program
The January 20, 2017, inauguration of President Trump as the nation’s 45th president is certain to bring with it changes in the health care environment, which may impact pharmacy in a variety of ways. As important as the new administration, however, is the fact that a “unified” government will take over in Washington, with Republicans
WASHINGTON — Four pharmacy organizations, including the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, have asked the incoming White House administration and congressional leaders to maintain Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries’ pharmacy access. “Policies that reduce local pharmacy access lead to poorer health outcomes, ultimately resulting in increased future health care costs,” the associations wrote to President-elect
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has made suggestions for improving the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including bigger subsidies for private insurance and a Medicare-like public plan in some states. Obama also said drug makers were putting their bottom lines ahead of the common good by opposing any constraints on medication prices. “We worked successfully with
WASHINGTON — Higher co-pays could result in an increase of over $1 billion in federal spending for medical services, warn the National Association of Chain Drug Stores and the National Community Pharmacists Association. In a recent letter to the chairmen and ranking members of the House Armed Services Committee and the Senate Armed Services Committee,
BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart is again using its scale to bolster health care. The retailer has begun an initiative focusing on preventive care and supporting overall well-being across its entire assortment — in stores and online — through events, education, and an expanded assortment of products and services. For the second year, Walmart is working
WASHINGTON — Total U.S. health care spending growth is expected to average 5.8% in aggregate over the 2014-2024 period, according to a report published in Health Affairs and written by members of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Office of the Actuary. The authors note that this rate of growth is still substantially lower
