[Vision2020] Fwd: Re: Fwd: RE: Medicaide Prescription Drug Story

[Tom Trail]

>>Visionaires:  Earlier this week I was contacted by Joann Milot, Marketime

Drug.  She had received a communique from an accounting firm, Meyers 
and Stouffer, that medicaide reimbursement rates on prescription 
drugs were being
reduced by 100-200%.  In one particular case Marketime would have been
reimbursed $59.00 under the old rates and only $19.00 under the new rates.
Marketime supplies prescriptions for medicaide patients at several of the
local care facilities.  In one facility over 80% of the patients are covered
by medicaide.

Under the new rates many pharmacies would have to simply not accept medicaide
prescription requests.  The owner of the Cottonwood pharmacy simply said that
if they continued under the new rate schedule they would be bankrupt within
a very short time.  Many seniors covered by medicaide were told about the
changes and were understandably upset.  I received many calls from them.  I
contacted David Reynolds, Director Region II Health and Welfare, and Ross
Mason, H & W, Boise about the problem.  They helped us get to the bottom
of the problem.

>
>I received a call from Ross Mason of Health and Welfare this morning.
>He said that H & W reviewed the Meyers and Stouffer study and found major
>flaws in the study and have rejected it (of course, after word went out from
>Meyers and Stouffer to pharmacies indicating a 100-200% cut in reimbursements
>for medicaide eligible patients--usually any change of this type is 
>communicated to pharmacies after consultation with the State 
>Pharmacy Board and sent out
>  an official agency Information Release indicating 30 days notice)
>
>So H & W is back to square one and probably will ask Meyers and Stouffer to
>conduct another survey.  Rates that pharmacies are reimbursed will remain the
>same.
>
>A reduction of 100-200% in medicaide prescription reimbursements to pharmacies
>would have had a major impact on many of our seniors with very limited means.
>The fact that H & W did not adequately work with Meyers and Stouffer in
>developing the survey and also it's implementation brings up an accountability
>question.  The agency also did not adequately review the results of the survey
>nor did they adequately consider the impact on pharmacies.  Many seniors were
>told by pharmacy personnel about the changes.  This created added 
>stress to their lives.  Health and Welfare also did not communicate 
>using the normal
>administrative procedure of the Information Release.  Health and Welfare needs
>to re-examine this senario so as to avoid similar problems in the future.
>
>Health and Welfare is going back to square on rates.  I recommended that H & W
>immediately contact all pharmacies via Information Release and tell them that
>medicaide prescription drug reimbursements for pharmacies will be 
>the old rates.
>They also need to re-examine the survey techniques of the firm carrying out
>the study, and work more closely the State Board of Pharmacy.
>
>Dave Reynolds, Director of Region II Health and Welfare, and Ross Mason,
>Health and Welfare, Boise, were very helpful and cooperatived in working
>to resolve this problem.
>
>Rep. Tom Trail
-- 
Dr. Tom Trail
International Trails
1375 Mt. View Rd.
Moscow, Id. 83843
Tel:  (208) 882-6077
Fax:  (208) 882-0896
e mail ttrail@moscow.com