Contact your Representative in Washington, D.C. The Iraq supplemental appropriations bill, which was recently signed into law, included a provision concerning the use of tamper resistant pads for Medicaid prescriptions. The law provides that pharmacists will not be reimbursed unless the prescription is written on a tamper resistant pad. The law applies to Medicaid prescriptions written after Sept. 30, 2007.

Catch 22! The law does not define a tamper resistant pad and it does not require physicians to use tamper resistant pads. It does not provide for emergency situations, for example, when a physician's office is closed.

Please contact your representative in D.C. ASAP and ask him or her to sign the "Dear Colleague" letter directed to CMS by Tuesday, July 24 being circulated by Reps. Marion Berry (AR), Mike Ross (AR) and Charlie Wilson (OH). Ask you representative to support the proposed amendment that will limit the requirement to prescriptions for Schedule II drugs. 

Find out who your D.C. representative is by clicking here. Email is still the easiest way to contact your elected officials. Picking up the phone and calling their local or DC office is powerful, too!

What to say:

•  Tell them your name, pharmacy, location, and estimated number of patients.
•  Ask him or her to sign the Wilson-Berry-Ross Dear Colleague letter on the recent law dealing with tamper resistant pads.
•  Ask him or her to support the proposed amendment that will limit the requirements to prescriptions for Schedule II drugs.
• Under a recently signed law, pharmacies will not be reimbursed in Medicaid unless the prescriptions are written on tamper resistant pads.
• The law puts an impossible burden on independent pharmacies, but does not require physicians to use the tamper resistant pads.
•      Thank them for hearing your concerns, and ask where he or she stands on this issue.