A new policy by a statewide Medicaid operator has independent pharmacists up in arms again. Earlier this year, pharmacists were the first group to alert lawmakers to problems with the managed care system. But they failed to get a bill protecting their co-pays signed into law.
A co-pay has now been restored. But independent pharmacist Jason Wallace says the new measure still hurts pharmacists, because it will take the place of a $1 dispensing fee.
"I know we're talking about a dollar here, but when you're talking about the cost of dispensing a drug in the 10 to 11 dollar territory and we're being reimbursed somewhere around a dollar in terms of a dispensing fee, that extra dollar that we were talking about in House Bill 262, makes a big difference," says Wallace.
Wallace says he and his fellow pharmacists are unsure of their next move following the defeat of that House bill.