ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The surge in vertical integration in the health care industry has created “an oligopoly of integrated health care companies controlling nearly all aspects of the health care and pharmacy supply chain,” said the National Community Pharmacists Association in comments submitted Tuesday to the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A new report by one of the country’s top pharmacy industry analysts shows how giant corporate middlemen are using “obscure” fees to scoop up billions in additional profits at the expense of patients and their neighborhood pharmacies, said the National Community Pharmacists Association on Wednesday. “It should be shocking to state and
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A report released Thursday by the Florida Pharmacy Association and American Pharmacy Cooperative, paints a vivid picture of how pharmacy benefit managers and Medicaid managed care organizations are pushing prescriptions and taxpayer dollars to pharmacies they own or control. The ultimate results, says the National Community Pharmacists Association, are higher costs, fewer choices for patients, and a growing number of neighborhood
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — In comments to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the National Community Pharmacists Association urged the agency to enhance coverage of pharmacist-provided care services and reevaluate strict supervision requirements as well as coverage policies for incident-to services. In response to President Trump’s Executive Order #13890 on Protecting and Improving Medicare for
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Ronna Hauser, vice president of policy and government affairs operations at the National Community Pharmacists Association, will be testifying at the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing on Tuesday titled, “Tackling the Opioid Crisis: A Whole-of-Government Approach.” The hearing will look at the implementation of two pieces of legislation targeting the opioid crisis, the
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Seniors would have more convenient access to discounted or “preferred” copays for prescription drugs at their pharmacy of choice under legislation reintroduced Thursday by Reps. Peter Welch (D, Vt.) and Morgan Griffith (R, Va.). The bipartisan legislation is endorsed by the National Community Pharmacists Association. NCPA chief executive officer B. Douglas Hoey
SAN DIEGO – Pharmacist Brian Caswell of Wolkar Drug in Baxter Springs, Kan. was installed as the 2019-2020 president of the National Community Pharmacists Association on Tuesday at the organization’s Annual Convention. “Both changing the payment model and pharmacy practice transformation are futuristic goals unimaginable even just a few years ago,” said Caswell. “NCPA strongly
WASHINGTON – With the Senate Finance Committee holding a legislative markup today of the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act (PDPRA) of 2019, eight associations noted initial bipartisan movement on direct and indirect remuneration (DIR) fee reform, but reiterated the need for swift and decisive action on this issue. Issuing a joint statement were: National Community
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — In print ads Tuesday in the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal, the National Community Pharmacists Association is urging policymakers to rein in pharmacy benefit managers to help lower drug costs. These ads complement NCPA’s ongoing efforts in its years-long campaign to reform pharmacy direct and indirect remuneration (DIR) fees, a
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Support for pharmacy direct and indirect remuneration fee reform continues to grow, with 204 pharmacy stakeholder and patient advocacy groups urging the Senate Finance Committee to include pharmacy DIR fee reform in its forthcoming drug pricing legislation. Nearly a quarter of the U.S. House of Representatives and more than a quarter of
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The National Community Pharmacists Association and its 22,000 member pharmacies are launching Fix DIR Day on Thursday, June 27. Pharmacy stakeholders will be mobilizing their legislators in Congress to contact members of the Senate Finance Committee and urge them to address pharmacy direct and indirect remuneration fees, or pharmacy DIR, in their
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — When the West Virginia Medicaid agency started managing the Medicaid managed care prescription drug benefit directly in July 2017, state officials were relying on an actuarial study forecasting a $30 million savings for the state. This week, the West Virginia Bureau for Medical Services released a report showing actual savings of $54.4
METAIRIE, La. — U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar yesterday visited Chateau Drugs and Gifts in Metairie, La., which is owned by National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) members Kerry and Diane Milano, both of whom are registered pharmacists. Azar made the visit to help highlight efforts by the Trump administration to
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A years-long effort led by the National Community Pharmacists Association to build support for a proposal to move pharmacy price concessions to point-of-sale reached a critical milestone on Jan. 25, 2019. Nearly 3,500 pharmacists and 170 patients formally voiced their support for parts of a proposed Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services drug
