ARLINGTON, Va. – The National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) on Friday lauded the Biden Administration for initiating action to rein in direct and indirect remuneration (DIR) fees and pledged continued vigilance to optimize the regulatory proposal for the benefit of seniors and for the viability of the pharmacies that serve them. “DIR fees
WASHINGTON – With pharmacy access top-of-mind due to the pandemic and with drug- pricing concerns remaining a national policy priority, organizations representing pharmacies and pharmacists are lauding legislation to confront the serious issue of pharmacy direct and indirect remuneration (DIR) fees. The organizations stated: “DIR fees are exerting unnecessary and devastating pressures on patients, on
After several years of unsuccessful efforts by pharmacy advocates to persuade members of Congress and the executive branch to put an end to inequities in direct and indirect remuneration under Medicare Part D, the National Community Pharmacists Association is taking the fight to court. NCPA last month filed a lawsuit against the Department of Health
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The country’s leading pharmacy groups issued the following statement on the Trump administration’s new final rule on prescription drug rebates: “While we want our patients to pay less for their prescription drugs, this rule does not accomplish that. It will likely increase their insurance premiums and out-of-pocket costs, and may limit patients’ access
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The country’s leading pharmacy groups said that any action on a prescription drug rebate rule must address skyrocketing fees extracted by pharmacy benefit managers on behalf of plan sponsors in Medicare Part D. “We remind the Administration of the continuous and heightened impact of pharmacy DIR fees imposed by Medicare Part D
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — In a letter to President Trump, National Community Pharmacists Association CEO B. Douglas Hoey says that as part of any efforts on drug pricing, the administration must eliminate back-door fees that insurance companies use to increase drug costs for seniors and gouge local pharmacies. “Insurance companies are using their prescription drug management divisions
WASHINGTON – More than 240 patient advocates and healthcare entities on Friday urged Congressional leaders to act now on a key reform to lower patients’ prescription drug prices at the pharmacy counter and to help prevent pharmacy closures that jeopardize access for vulnerable Americans. “Members of Congress should not overlook the clear and present opportunity to
A new report on the cost of dispensing prescription medications brings into sharp focus the difficult economic challenges faced by retail pharmacy operators. It should come as no surprise that the study — conducted by Abt Associates and the MPI Group for the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, the National Community Pharmacists Association and
ARLINGTON, Va. – Morning Consult Wednesday published an op-ed by NACDS president and chief executive officer Steven Anderson that tells Congress just how critical it is for the wellbeing of patients and pharmacies to enact relief from direct and indirect remuneration (DIR) fees. “A simple truth is emerging about the complex topic known as pharmacy DIR fees: they
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
The new year will be a time of testing for drug stores, as a confluence of forces call into question their function in the marketplace and long-term viability. At the same time that the economics of health care continue to weigh heavily on pharmacy margins, drug store operators must learn how to compete more effectively
The nation’s independent pharmacies are under severe stress and, unless the economic conditions in which they operate change dramatically, many of them could begin to disappear from the scene. That sobering conclusion stems from a new report by the National Community Pharmacists Association, which not only sounds the alarm about the uncertain prospects for that
ARLINGTON, Va. — On a strong bipartisan basis, the chairman, ranking member, and an overwhelming majority of the Senate Finance Committee have asked the Trump Administration to do its part to close a Medicare regulation loophole – known as pharmacy direct and indirect remuneration (DIR) fees – that inflates patients’ out-of-pocket drug costs and that
Titration. In chemistry, it’s adding a reactant to a solution until a chemical reaction is achieved. The titration process might take numerous drops of reactant before its concentration is high enough to observe a noticeable change. That chemical reaction is an apropos analogy for the current misaligned pharmacy payment model and its pathway to change.