(Washington, DC)—Mark Merritt, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA), issued the following statement in response to videotaped remarks made today by Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan on budget policy and the future of Medicare to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Policy Forum. PCMA is the national association representing pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), which administer prescription drug plans for 200 million Americans:

“Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan is right to focus on the need for Medicare to take advantage of the tools available which can improve quality and rein in heatlh spending. Although PBMs, which are central to administering the new Medicare prescription drug benefit, will save seniors 31 percent on drugs at the retail counter and 45 percent for those choosing the mail service pharmacy option, policymakers can do more to generate even greater savings in the future.

“In particular, Chairman Greenspan’s assertion that health information technology is key to improving clinical best practices and reducing health care administrative costs is a clarion call for the need for system-wide adoption of one the PBM industry’s greatest — and largely untapped â?? innovations: electronic prescribing technology. Creating one national, uniform e-prescribing standard and allowing payers to provide the technology and other incentives necessary to encourage providers to actually use this technology will save billions of dollars, and, more importantly, save lives.

“More broadly speaking, it is critical that policymakers embrace the proven tools PBMs have used successfully in the commercial market to lower prescription drug costs, expand access, and promote quality. PBMs rely on a wide range of tools to help health insurers, labor unions, and small businesses lower prescription drug spending, including multi-tier formularies, preferred pharmacy networks, pharmacy & therapeutic committees, generic substitution, step therapy, prior authorization, mail-service pharmacies, and many other tools.

“While many of these tools will be used to improve the quality and affordability of the new Medicare drug benefit, many special interests continue to try and undermine them — most notably the retail pharmacy and drug manufacturer lobbies, and the trial bar. While standing up to these interests can be difficult, policymakers who do so will be rewarded with a better, more affordable drug benefit that will put seniors — and the Medicare program itself — in a much better position to face the future.”

Full text of Chairman Greenspan’s remarks

Contact Information:
Phil Blando, 202-207-3614
Charles Coté 202-207-3605