(Washington, DC)— New, independent government data from the Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality (AHRQ) suggest that while mail-service pharmacies serve a disproportionate share of seniors and individuals with chronic conditions, public programs are not taking full advantage of this increasingly popular and proven cost-saving pharmacy option, the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) said today. At a time when policymakers are seeking public program savings, PCMA believes strongly that the mail-service pharmacy option could be an important tool to achieving greater savings without sacrificing access to needed medications.
“The more consumers know about the savings and convenience of the mail-service pharmacy option, the more they like it. Since public programs lag behind in this area, they should explore new ways to promote this important option,” said PCMA President and CEO Mark Merritt.
The new mail-service pharmacy data are contained in a new report from the Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality (AHRQ), entitled Comparing Population Characteristics of Persons Purchasing Prescribed Drugs from Mail Order Pharmacies with Persons Purchasing Prescribed Drugs from Other Outlets, 2005. Among the key findings suggested by the new data:
According to a September 2006 report commissioned by PCMA and conducted by the Lewin Group, mail-service pharmacies are projected to reduce costs to consumers and payors by $85 billion in Medicare and the commercial marketplace during the time period 2007 to 2016. If mail-service pharmacies were used to their full potential in Medicare and the commercial marketplace, the ten-year cost savings could double â?? to $167 billion.
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PCMA is the national association representing America’s pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), which administer prescription drug plans for more than 210 million Americans with health coverage provided through Fortune 500 employers, health insurance plans, labor unions, and Medicare Part D.
Contact Information:
Charles Coté 202-207-3605
To view highlights from the e-prescribing press conference featuring Senators John Kerry, John Ensign, Debbie Stabenow, and John Sununu as well as former House Speaker and e-prescribing advocate Newt Gingrich see below.
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In December 2007, the bipartisan Medicare Electronic Medication and Safety Protection (E-MEDS) Act of 2007 was introduced by Senate Finance Committee Members John Kerry (D-Mass.) and John Ensign, (R-Nev.). Companion legislation was introduced in the House by Representatives Allyson Schwartz, (D-Penn.) and Jon Porter, (R-Nev.).
To view highlights from the e-prescribing press conference featuring Senators
John Kerry, John Ensign, Debbie Stabenow, and John Sununu as well as former
House Speaker and e-prescribing advocate Newt Gingrich see below.
If you’re having trouble viewing this video, please
make sure you have downloaded the
latest version of Adobe Flash.
Leavitt: “It saves lives. It saves money. And it’s time”
(Washington, DC)—In another sign of the growing momentum for electronic prescribing (e-prescribing), Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Mike Leavitt testified today before the Senate Finance Committee that e-prescribing standards and technology are in place and that “it’s time” to adopt the technology in Medicare.
When questioned by Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) on the adoption of e-prescribing in Medicare, Secretary Leavitt said: “It saves lives. It saves money. And it’s time.”
“PCMA applauds Secretary Leavitt’s continued leadership in advocating for adopting e-prescribing in Medicare,” said The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) President and CEO Mark Merritt. “This bipartisan issue is generating support from policymakers who want to improve health care quality and lower costs.”
In December, the bipartisan “Medicare Electronic Medication and Safety Protection (E-MEDS) Act of 2007″ that would require e-prescribing in Medicare was introduced by Senate Finance Committee Members Kerry and John Ensign, (R-Nev.). Companion legislation was introduced in the House by Representatives Allyson Schwartz, (D-Penn.) and Jon Porter, (R-Nev.). Both bills are supported by a broad coalition of consumers, unions, businesses, purchaser groups, and other prescription drug stakeholders.
E-prescribing improves safety by alerting a doctor when a drug about to be prescribed could dangerously interact with other medications that a patient is already taking. E-prescribing also eliminates medication errors that result from sloppy handwritten prescriptions that are illegible at the pharmacy counter.
Last year, PCMA launched an ad campaign featuring Institute of Medicine (IOM) expert panelist J. Lyle Bootman that called on policymakers to require e-prescribing in Medicare “before more people die.” Dr. Bootman co-chaired an IOM committee that recommended that all physicians begin using e-prescribing by 2010 to help reduce the estimated 1.5 million preventable medication errors that occur in the United States annually. According to the IOM, each year some 7,000 people die from medication errors. Unfortunately, fewer than one-in-ten physicians currently use life-saving e-prescribing technology.
In an op-ed published today, Secretary Leavitt stated:
“Our progress is moving fast enough that it is time to make another important step: linking e-prescribing to Medicare reimbursements. I have proposed to Congress that when they deal with reimbursements for doctors in June, they require doctors to use e-prescribing in order to get the highest rates of compensation.”
The complete exchange between Senator Kerry and Secretary Leavitt is below:
Senate Finance Committee
February 6, 2008
Sen. Kerry: We have a bill, a bipartisan bill that we put in, which would require physicians to adopt e-prescription and ask in return that every physician in Medicare adopt this practice by 2011. Every independent analysis indicates this saves lives. It saves money, and Medicare spending will be curbed if it is passed. And I think it should be passed and passed quickly. Do you agree with that? Do you agree with the judgment that it saves lives? It prevents errors, and that Medicare ought to adopt this rapidly?
Sec. Leavitt: It saves lives. It saves money. And it’s time. Two years ago, I don’t believe I could have said we’re ready. But we now have succeeded in developing technology and having standards. This is the moment we need to begin to create that expectation that if you’re going to be reimbursed at the highest rate, you need to provide it to us in the most efficient and safe way.
Sen. Kerry: So the standards are in place and the technology is there and we could go forward in your judgment?
Sec. Leavitt: In my judgment, we could, and we support it and hope very much at the first available opportunity we can do that.
Sen. Kerry: Well I hope we will also, and I thank you for that.
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PCMA is the national association representing America’s pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), which administer prescription drug plans for more than 210 million Americans with health coverage provided through Fortune 500 employers, health insurance plans, labor unions, and Medicare Part D.
Contact Information:
Charles Coté 202-207-3605
(Washington, DC)—The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) issued the following statement in response to the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) recent opposition to legislation (S.B. 2190) that would allow individual and corporate health care providers in Puerto Rico to collectively bargain and charge higher fees:
“This latest comment from the FTC highlights the agency’s consistent opposition to special exemptions that would allow health care providers to collectively bargain, and in turn, charge higher prices to consumers and payers.
“Similarly, an FTC expert last year testified before Congress that HR 971—a bill granting independent pharmacists sweeping antitrust exemptions—would increase costs for consumers and the federal government. The FTC expert said that giving independent pharmacies ‘a license to engage in price fixing and boycotts in order to extract higher payments from third-party payers would be a costly step backward, not forward, on the path to a better health care system.’
“The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) also recently found that HR 971 would increase federal costs by $727 million over ten years and that increased drug costs to private health plans, employers, and consumers would result in ‘reductions in the scope or generosity of health insurance benefits, such as increased deductibles or higher copayments.’
“HR 971 simply provides independent pharmacists with a license to collude to raise prescription drug prices, without adding value for consumers or payers.”
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PCMA is the national association representing America’s pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), which administer prescription drug plans for more than 210 million Americans with health coverage provided through Fortune 500 employers, health insurance plans, labor unions, and Medicare Part D.
Contact Information:
Charles Coté 202-207-3605