News from American Pharmacies, a Co-Op Owned by Independent Pharmacies.

A Co-Op Owned by
Independent Pharmacies

Working with pharmacy wholesalers, American Pharmacies saves our members real money.

April 15, 2008

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Much more than a buying co-op!

American Pharmacies is a for-profit, member-owned pharmacy buying group operating

in Texas, Oklahoma & Louisiana, with a strong advocacy arm in Texas & Washington, D.C.

Member, National Community Pharmacists Association

Beck's Corner

HHSC sits on Medicaid formulary change, gives no warning to pharmacy

CMS notified the Texas Health and Human Services Commission and other state Medicaid programs of a formulary change Jan. 28 and effective April 4, but the only notice pharmacy received was when prescriptions were denied.

Whether one believes the new formulary is good or bad, we all can agree it is egregious that this was done with no notification to pharmacists nor to the supply houses.

Among the discontinued medications are children's Tylenol liquid and drops. Once again, the pharmacist is the one having to explain the problem to distraught patients.

To compound the problem, our suppliers have had trouble coming up with adequate substitutions. This move was precipitated by McNeil pulling out of the CMS rebate program.

At the minimum, there should be a procedure in place to notify suppliers and pharmacists of impending formulary changes. We are working with the National Community Pharmacists Association on this from the CMS level and directly with pertinent Texas House and Senate committees on the state level.

Stay tuned!

Medicaid AMP cuts delayed

Government lawyers have asked for an additional 60 days to give documents to National Community Pharmacists Association and the National Association of Chain Drug Stores that the pharmacy groups requested in their lawsuit against a federal rule that would slash Medicaid drug reimbursements by one-third or more.

The most immediate impact of the two-month delay is the avoidance of at least another $400 million in devastating cuts to community pharmacy. It also further pushes back a court hearing on the lawsuit challenging a rule issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in July 2007 that bases community pharmacy's generic drug payments on Average Manufacturer Price (AMP).

The cuts were to be implemented Jan. 31, 2008, but NCPA and NACDS won an injunction in U.S. District Court blocking them. That injunction remains in effect. CMS estimates the cuts will cost community pharmacies at least $5.5 million a day, a figure NCPA and NACDS consider too low.

FPN pre-book flu discount for APRx members

The Federation of Pharmacy Networks, of which APRx is a member, has completed its contract with InSource for 2008-09 flu vaccine. Separate from this contract, InSource is kicking off its pre-book flu program.

An individualized group order form for GSK FluLaval is on the Member Only section of the APRx Website. [If you do not already have a Member Password to this part of the Website, go to www.aprx.org, click on Contact Us, and in the comments section create your preferred password. Allow 24 hours for it to become effective.]

InSource will waive all shipping and handling fees, and payment is due Jan. 1, 2009. The FluLaval promotion is classified as a Pre-Book and not a firm order. A pharmacy has the ability to cancel or change a pre-book up until the time that it does become an order. The change in status usually happens when InSource contacts the pharmacy to set up delivery. Once the pre-book becomes an order, the order cannot be modified or canceled.

InSource also has made Novartis Fluvirin available through our contract. Fluvirin is indicated for ages 4 and up and is only available in vials. This is not a promotion and neither free shipping nor extended payment terms are available when this product is ordered through InSource.

Texas Health Steps Online Provider Education

Texas Health and Human Services Commission has a series of computer-based training opportunities for pharmacies to educate staff about Medicaid pharmacy benefits (particularly for children under 21) and how to get reimbursed. The state is working with the University of Texas to offer continuing education credit for this online training. Providers can access the training at www.txhealthsteps.com.

Information about this training and other pharmacy outreach initiatives are included in the Rx Update, the Vendor Drug quarterly newsletter. If you are a contracted pharmacy provider but did not receive a copy of the newsletter in the mail, please check to ensure your address on file with Vendor Drug is correct. Please submit corrections by fax to 512-491-1972.

To learn more about the Vendor Drug Program, please visit:

http://www.txvendordrug.com

Bill targets online prescription drugs

In an effort to limit sales of illegitimate prescription drugs on the web, the U.S. Senate passed The Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act of 2008, with support from Go Daddy.com.