Press Release - Senator Santorum Cosponsors Legislation to Address Concerns from Pennsylvania's Community Pharmacists

Press Release - Senator Santorum Cosponsors Legislation to Address Concerns from Pennsylvania's Community Pharmacists

U.S. Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA), Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, is a cosponsor of S. 2563, the Pharmacist Access and Recognition in Medicare (PhARM) Act of 2006, which would seek to ensure pharmacists receive prompt payment for claims submitted to participating Medicare prescription drug plans and set guidelines for Medication Therapy Management programs.

"Community pharmacists play a vital role in ensuring the health and safety of Pennsylvanians, and they have been an integral partner throughout the first year of the Medicare prescription drug benefit," said Senator Santorum. "It was the intent of Congress to ensure that seniors have access to a robust pharmacy network, including their local, community pharmacists. I will continue to work with my colleagues to address my constituents' concerns regarding the Medicare prescription drug benefit, including access to community pharmacists."

"The National Community Pharmacists Association thanks Senator Santorum for co-sponsoring S. 2563, The Pharmacists Access and Recognition in Medicare (PhARM) Act of 2006," said Charlie Sewell, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs at the National Community Pharmacists Association. "This measure will help fix a significant problem with the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit - seeing that pharmacists are paid in a timely manner to insure they can continue to address the health needs of our senior population. We appreciate the Senator helping to ensure that our independent pharmacists are not forced out of business by inadequate, slow reimbursement and unclear claims processing."

In June, Senator Santorum wrote the Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General and asked that specific analysis be conducted on community pharmacists, including: 1) network adequacy to ensure that the standards set forth by the Medicare Modernization Act assured rural beneficiaries' access to local, community pharmacies; 2) reimbursements to pharmacies from Medicare prescription drug plans relative to pharmacies' costs acquiring and dispensing prescription drugs; and 3) the methods used by prescription drug plans in developing their Medicare networks and the extent to which local, community pharmacies relied on third-parties for assistance in contracting with prescription drug plans. In July, the Senator wrote the Administrator of CMS to offer suggestions for improvements to Medicare Part D specifically related to pharmacies.

http://santorum.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressOffice.View&ContentRecord_id=2078&Region_id=0&Issue_id=0