ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The National Community Pharmacists Association and 41 state pharmacy associations are providing input to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners on educational material it is developing regarding the U.S. Supreme Court’s December 2020 decision in Rutledge v. PCMA. In this case the Court unanimously found that federal law does not preclude states from enforcing reimbursement and
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The National Community Pharmacists Association today submitted comments to the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice in response to the request for information on merger guidelines and enforcement. In the comments NCPA CEO B. Douglas Hoey, pharmacist, MBA, strongly encourages the agencies to amend the guidelines to bring health
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – At today’s Federal Trade Commission-Department of Justice online listening forum on effects of mergers and acquisitions, National Community Pharmacists Association president Michele Belcher described to FTC Chair Lina M. Khan, Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter, and others how pharmacy benefit managers’ take-it-or-leave-it contracts with independent pharmacies lead to harms including higher costs
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The West Virginia Independent Pharmacy Association and the National Community Pharmacists Association are applauding HB 4112, a patient choice bill signed into law last week by Gov. Jim Justice (R). HB 4112 gives patients greater authority to choose which in-network pharmacy fills their prescriptions and would address the arbitrary “specialty” designation that
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The National Community Pharmacists Association is pleased to announce these upcoming events for pharmacists and pharmacy team members taking place in April: • April 9-10: NCPA Pharmacy Ownership Workshop, sponsored by McKesson, in Atlanta. At this workshop, a team of experts will answer the nitty-gritty questions about the loan approval process, licensure agreements,
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Six community pharmacies have been named recipients of the 2022 NCPA Innovation Center Excellence Awards, sponsored by RedSail Technologies, LLC, the National Community Pharmacists Association announced Wednesday. This is the fifth year of the NICE Awards competition, which was created to recognize pharmacies for their efforts to enhance their value, promote their
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – “Premiums will go up! Premiums will go up!” It’s what pharmacy benefit manager lobbyists squeal every time there’s a bill to regulate PBMs. According to a new analysis by the National Community Pharmacists Association, however, the theory doesn’t hold up in states that have adopted laws protecting patients and local pharmacies. “All state
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – In comments submitted today, National Community Pharmacists Association CEO B. Douglas Hoey said independent pharmacy has strong concerns about the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ proposed Medicare Part D rule, which includes the latest efforts of the agency to lower out of pocket drug costs for patients and address pharmacy direct
WASHINGTON— A new report, “Medicare Part D Pharmacy Price Concessions at the Point of Sale, Potential Impacts on Stakeholder Costs” analyzed the Medicare Part D proposed rule, specifically the proposed rule’s provision to mandate the inclusion of contingent pharmacy price concessions, otherwise known as pharmacy DIR, in the “negotiated price” at the point-of-sale. Consistent with CMS’s analysis,
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The National Community Pharmacists Association is pleased to announce this upcoming event for pharmacists and pharmacy team members taking place in March: March 15: NASPA Pharmacy-Based Point-of-Care Test and Treat National Certificate Program, online. This is an opportunity for pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, student pharmacists, and pharmacy association staff to gain the skills and
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The National Community Pharmacists Association is cheering today’s announcement by the U.S. Department of Justice that it is initiating litigation to block the consummation of UnitedHealth Group’s acquisition of data giant Change Healthcare. In September 2021, after meeting with the DOJ, NCPA publicly called for DOJ to block the merger, saying it would create an
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Large majorities say insurance plans and their pharmacy benefit managers should pay pharmacies fairly for COVID-19 drugs and other life-saving medicines, and they shouldn’t tell patients which pharmacies to use or steer them into their own pharmacies, according to a new national consumer survey released Thursday by the National Community Pharmacists Association.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) issued the following statement on behalf of NCPA CEO B. Douglas Hoey in reaction to a deadlock vote by the FTC on whether to investigate PBMs, effectively killing the proposal at least for now: “Two members of the FTC just let the worst actors in the market off the
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Huge claw-backs, patient steering, under-water reimbursements, mafia-style contracts. NCPA didn’t pull any punches today at an FTC hearing on whether the agency should order PBMs to hand over reams of information about their anti-competitive practices. “NCPA has been very vocal in our concerns about how PBMs vertically integrated upstream with Aetna, Cigna,
