Drug Topics - March 24, 2008 - (Page 5) 5 would further limit the federal upper limit (FUL) reimbursement to Medicaid-participating pharmacies for generic drugs. Payments would drop from 250% to 150% of AMP. The Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, has already calculated that a FUL reimbursement set at a maximum 250% of AMP will lead to reimbursements falling 36% below acquisition costs. “Using a reduced 150% figure will likely cause reimbursement to fall more than 50% below the costs of the drugs themselves, without even considering the costs to dispense drugs,” said Bruce Roberts, R.Ph., executive VP and CEO of the National Community Pharmacists Association, Alexandria, Va. Steven Grossman, R.Ph., owner of J.E. Pierce Apothecary in Brookline, Mass., is concerned that if AMP passes, reimbursement will also fall from other third parties. “Once Medicaid gets away with AMP, then Medicare D plans and everyone else will try to get the same rates,” he worried. Industry observers agreed that AMP could have devastating effects on the pharmacy community. “AMP could cause reduced reimbursements for retailers that in turn will put pressure on margins,” said Doug Long, VP of IMS Health. Pharm.D., Ph.D., director of the PRIME Institute at the University of Minnesota, provided dire warnings about the effects of the previously adopted Medicaid cuts that have been put on hold pending the results of the legal action. Schondelmeyer estimated that 10,000 to 12,000 community pharmacies could be lost. “The President’s newest proposal only exacerbates the situation,” said Roberts. “While any small business owner will tell you that running a business based on these numbers is ruinous, the true victim of this policy will be the patient whose access to prescription drugs will be limited.” Pharmacies in peril In a statement, U.S. Representative Marion Berry, R.Ph. (D, Ark.) commented that pharmacies might have to stop participating in Medicaid if they are forced to accept payments that are significantly below cost. “The federal government is the only business I know of that continues to operate in debt,” said Berry. “Unfortunately, pharmacists do not have this luxury. This proposal will force many family-run pharmacies out of business, closing their doors on the very people who need the most help.” Grossman summed up the sentiment voiced by many in the pharmacy community: “We are all anxiously awaiting to see what happens with AMP .” THE AUTHOR Dire warnings In a recent report, Stephen W. Schondelmeyer, is a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based pharmacy journalist. More groups demand pathway for biogenerics Sandra Levy T tion’s (GPhA) annual meeting, he Generic Pharmaceutical Associa- which was held recently in Boca Raton, Fla., was the perfect setting for Insmed Inc., a biopharmaceutical company to issue a report entitled “The Potential American Market for Generic Biological Treatments and the Associated Cost Savings.” Conducted by economist Robert Shapiro, chairman of Sonecon LLC, the report identified potential cost savings of approximately $378 billion over the next 20 years from making follow-on biologics available in the United States. The report is available at www.insmed.com. In a separate development, The Coalition for a Competitive Pharmaceutical Market (CCPM), an organization of employers, insurers, pharmacy benefit managers, chain drugstores, and generic drug manufacturers, announced to the press that it sent a letter to Health & Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt urging safe and workable biogenerics legislation. The CCPM also ran a full-page ad in Roll Call, a Washington, D.C., publication that had the headline, “Don’t Leave Patients Out in the Cold.” The ad urged Congress to give patients a pathway that provides access to affordable biogenerics. Finally, GPhA president/CEO Kathleen Jaeger issued the following statement supporting the Bush Administra- tion’s fiscal 2009 Food & Drug Administration budget: “We welcome the news that the administration has endorsed the fact that FDA has the scientific expertise to establish a safe and workable regulatory approval pathway for biogenerics. Now the administration needs to join with the more than 70 organizations representing businesses, labor, consumers, and older Americans, as well as a distinguished group of governors, who are asking for FDA to provide timely access to biogenerics. A pathway filled with roadblocks to access, including excessive market exclusivity provisions, is an empty promise for countless patients who need these affordable life-saving medicines.” DT http://www.insmed.com
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Drug Topics - March 24, 2008 Drug Topics - March 24, 2008 Contents Medical Communication: Pharmacy's Best Kept Secret Pharmacies Bemoan Generics' Shrinking Margins More Groups Demand Pathway For Biogenerics Latest News Roundup Drug Topics - March 24, 2008 Drug Topics - March 24, 2008 - Contents (Page 1) Drug Topics - March 24, 2008 - Contents (Page 2) Drug Topics - March 24, 2008 - Medical Communication: Pharmacy's Best Kept Secret (Page 3) Drug Topics - March 24, 2008 - Pharmacies Bemoan Generics' Shrinking Margins (Page 4) Drug Topics - March 24, 2008 - More Groups Demand Pathway For Biogenerics (Page 5) Drug Topics - March 24, 2008 - Latest News Roundup (Page 6) Drug Topics - March 24, 2008 - Latest News Roundup (Page 7)
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