Richmond, VA—In
a comprehensive survey of nearly 6,000 pharmacists only 119 called the
new Medicare Part D prescription drug program a success. Pharmacists
from across the country expressed their views through a survey conducted
by the Pharmacy Society of Wisconsin on behalf of the National Council
of State Pharmacy Association Executives (NCSPAE).
The web-based survey captured the
opinions of 5,859 pharmacists, inclusive of pharmacists from every
state, during the final two weeks of March. The pharmacist respondents
make up approximately 2.5 percent of all practicing pharmacists.
The survey found that there have been
significant operational and financial problems for pharmacies serving
Medicare Part D enrollees. Although the operational problems lessened in
the months of February and March, 45 percent of the pharmacists said
that their pharmacy was still spending more than 10 hours each week
resolving Part D-related problems.
The financial problems created by Part D
may be of even greater concern to pharmacists. Of those pharmacists who
responded, 60 percent said that Part D would have a negative impact upon
their business, including 12 percent who reported that it may force
their pharmacy to close. Twenty-eight percent of pharmacists were unsure
of the business implications of Part D and only 10 percent of
pharmacists believed Part D would be good for their businesses.
“The results of this survey should cause
every policy-maker in the country to take notice. Even when a Part D
program works properly for a beneficiary, it is still likely to have a
negative effect on that beneficiary’s pharmacy provider. Further, when
the program doesn’t work properly, it is pharmacists who are there
trying to fix it. Congress must change the Part D program now--before it
destroys the very pharmacy infrastructure it relies upon,” said NCSPAE
President Jim Bracewell of South Carolina upon announcing the results of
the survey.
The survey quantified many anecdotal
reports associated with pharmacist difficulties with the new Medicare
program. The survey also uncovered some startling statistics. For
example, an astonishing 85 percent of responding pharmacists involved in
contracting with Part D plans reported that the plans responsible for
administering the benefit refused to negotiate terms with their
pharmacy. Further exaggerating the impact of not being able to negotiate
contract terms, 85 percent reported that the Part D pharmacy
reimbursement terms they were offered were either below average or the
lowest in the market.
"We conducted this survey to identify and
report what the Medicare Part D program was doing to and for the
nation’s pharmacy providers. There is no group of individuals who want
this program to work as it was envisioned and as it is needed more than
the nation’s practicing pharmacists. Pharmacists are there, day-in and
day-out, doing their very best to serve their patients, but their
efforts are being compromised by the companies responsible for
administering the program,” said Chris Decker, Executive Vice President
and CEO of the Pharmacy Society of Wisconsin.
Not only did Congress expect that
Medicare Part D plans would negotiate fair and reasonable terms with the
pharmacies tasked with the responsibility for dispensing medications to
Medicare recipients, Medicare officials repeatedly advised plans against
creating barriers to medications during the first 90 days of the
program. However, the responding pharmacists reported that prior
authorization has been required for more than 20 percent of the
prescriptions they dispense to individuals enrolled in Part D programs.
“It’s not supposed to happen at all, yet it has happened all the time.
Where is our system of checks and balances?” asked Bracewell. “It is
time for Congress to see that those companies that have been given the
keys to the program are driving it in the proper direction and that both
Medicare recipients and pharmacy providers are fairly treated.”
