T Minus 48 Days and Counting

That’s the amount of time Community Pharmacy has left before the Medicaid ruling could take affect. Tick Tock . . . . Tick Tock!

The good news is NCPA and NACDS have joined forces in a lawsuit to stop this train wreck before it happens. For those who have not heard about this suit, please click here for more on this hot topic. We sincerely hope NCPA & NACDS are successful in this lawsuit.

NCPA & NACDS charge that the new payment system, scheduled to take effect in 2008, is illegal because it does not reflect the actual cost of generic drugs. As a result, they said in a joint statement, "small and independent pharmacies will be forced to close their doors or drop out of Medicaid."

However, Medicaid officials (CMS) dispute the industry's calculations, saying the government actually overpaid for generic drugs under the previous system.

So, let’s get this straight. CMS is saying because they (our government) screwed up in the past, that it is the pharmacist who must be held accountable. Thus, our government is dictating that pharmacists must lose money (reimbursement will be 36% below the pharmacists acquisition cost of the drug) to make up for our government mistakes. You don't need an MBA to know that losing money is not good for any business.

We understand that CMS is trying to save the government and taxpayer’s money. However, shifting the blame to pharmacy is only adding to the problem.

Let's follow CMS logic and apply it to the price of gas. The price of gas is way too high. So, does that mean as of January 1, 2008 that all Gas Stations will be required to sell Gasoline at a price 36% below their cost? If so, why? Putting gas stations out of business isn't going to solve our oil crisis.

Look, we can all agree that the cost of prescription drugs are too high. However, there has got to be a better way to handle this problem without putting pharmacists out of business.

Do you know how to solve this problem? Please post your thoughts directly on this blog.