October 2021 - SCPC | Senior Care Pharmacy Coalition

Oct 21, 2022

Rosenbloom: Curb PBMs’ power

Despite the purported value of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), drug prices remain unaffordable for many Americans (“Prescription drug pricing reform must rein in pharmacy benefit managers,” Web, Oct. 18). As middlemen between the manufacturers, pharmacies and consumers, PBMs are notorious for abusive business practices that impact both patients’ wallets and their access to prescription drugs, while gouging unaffiliated pharmacies.

Oct 19, 2022

Prescription Drug Middleman Potentially Profiting off Veterans

One of the three dominant U.S. pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs)—the middlemen that handle the vast majority of prescription drug plans in the United States—has instituted a scheme that has left roughly 400,000 active-duty and retired military households scrambling for a new pharmacy provider within the next week. Critics say the maneuver is a naked attempt by Express Scripts, the Cigna-owned PBM, to steer beneficiaries toward its own market-leading mail-order pharmacy.

Oct 17, 2022

The surprising group that will be hit hard by drug pricing reform

By Rachel CohrsSTAT Obviously, pharmaceutical companies are upset that they’re going to lose money from Medicare under Democrats’ new drug pricing law. But there’s another, less obvious group that’s concerned as well — long-term care pharmacies that serve almost entirely Medicare patients, and dispense the drugs that will likely enter the price negotiation program first. […]

Oct 14, 2022

Military Veterans Deserve Uninterrupted Pharmacy Access

Military Retirees Will Lose Long-Term Care Pharmacy Services as soon as Oct. 24, 2022 TRICARE and its Pharmacy Benefit: The TRICARE program, operated by the Department of Defense (Defense Health Agency), covers 9.6 million active-duty service members and their family members, along with military retirees, many of whom live in long-term care (LTC) facilities like […]

Oct 31, 2021

When We Incentivize Treatment Over Outcomes, People Suffer

By Gil Bashe Medika Life Long-Term Care Pharmacy Elevates Quality of Life + Quality of Care Our health ecosystem is vast and siloed. Payers, providers, product innovators, and policymakers should be rallying to the needs of patients, but the reality is quite different. Policies and economics drive decisions, and sometimes the result is that our […]

Oct 20, 2021

Representatives Kurt Schrader and Markwayne Mullin Introduce Long-Term Care Pharmacy Definition Act of 2021

The Senior Care Pharmacy Coalition Applauds This Crucial Step for Long-Term Care Pharmacies; Enabling Better Care for Vulnerable Populations Washington, DC – Representative Kurt Schrader (D-OR-05) and Representative Markwayne Mullin (R-OK-02) have introduced the bipartisan Long-Term Care Pharmacy Definition Act of 2021, which will improve prescription access from long-term care (LTC) pharmacies for older adults […]

Oct 12, 2021

Inside Health Policy: LTC Pharmacies To HHS: Remove Us From Provider Relief Cap

By Dorothy Mills-Gregg Inside Health Policy Long-term care pharmacies are asking HHS to separate them from retail pharmacies when calculating Phase 4 provider relief distributions, calling the 10% cap on annual patient care revenue arbitrary and unfair when long-term care pharmacies’ average patient care revenues are 30% to 35% of their total revenues. Long-term care […]

Oct 6, 2021

Unfair and Arbitrary Provider Relief Fund Rules Leave Long-Term Care Pharmacies and Their Senior Patients Behind

New Provider Relief Fund Distributions Overlook the Unique Patient Care Services of Long-Term Care Pharmacies Washington, DC – The Senior Care Pharmacy Coalition (SCPC), representing the nation’s Long-term care (LTC) pharmacies, today decried the latest announcement from the Health Services and Resources Administration (HRSA) about the Provider Relief Fund. In April 2021, HRSA, a branch […]

Oct 16, 2020

CMS to Relax Medicare Billing Rules to Speed COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution in Nursing Homes

Skilled Nursing News By Alex Spanko | October 16, 2020 The federal government on Friday announced its intention to relax restrictions around billing Medicare for immunization in nursing homes, with the stated goal of speeding the eventual distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine. Skilled nursing facilities are typically required to bill Medicare directly for immunizations under […]