Pharmacists Support Choice – Oppose Mail Order
On September 7, 2009 The Canton Repository ran an article titled “Pharmacists say Schools’ Mail-order Policy will hurt Business.” This was followed by a Repository editorial on September 8, 2009, “Schools act to hold down drug costs.”
As a group of pharmacists and business owners, we would like to clarify several points that were made in these articles and in the responses posted at CantonRep.com.
- “But the schools seemingly cannot win for losing. Local independent pharmacists are criticizing this latest effort to reduce health care costs as a threat to local pharmacy jobs.” As a group of local business owners who pay taxes and support our community, our criticism is not with an effort to save money or reduce health care costs, our criticism is in being excluded from the bidding process. The previous pharmacy contract for the Stark County Schools Council of Governments (SCSCG) was due to terminate on December 31, 2009. The new contract with mandatory mail order was renegotiated and implemented this summer. A full 5 months early. There was no notice, no request for bids, no opportunity to present the SCSCG with a proposal that may have saved them an equivalent sum or perhaps even more while keeping the business and the tax revenue in our local economy. Perhaps we could have saved both teachers jobs and pharmacy jobs with a local solution!
- “Local school districts are answering to their own “customers” — their employees and taxpayers.” This statement by the Repository also speaks to our point that the SCSCG is funded by our taxes. As both the City of Canton and Stark County Offices have asked employees to take voluntary layoffs or salary reductions they have sited the loss of the tax base in our county as a source of declining revenue. Our pharmacies pay federal and state income taxes, CAT taxes, and payroll taxes on our revenues. Our employees pay income taxes and property taxes based on their wages from our pharmacies. Those revenues have left our pharmacies and Stark County and are now paying employees in Texas and generating a tax base in Texas! Do the projected savings on the prescription plan offset the loss of tax base to the local governments? Should the “customers” or taxpayers have had a choice or a voice in this decision?
- “Pharmacies can, if they choose adjust their prices so they are competitive with other sources.” And a related quote …”Maybe it’s time for the pharmacies to look at how much they are charging for a script.” In a pharmacy, customers who have prescription insurance present a prescription card to the pharmacist. When the pharmacist processes the prescription they receive an electronic response from the patient’s insurance telling them what the patient’s co-pay is for that prescription and what the insurance company will pay them for that prescription. If the customer presents prescription insurance the pharmacy is contractually bound to charge the customer the co-pay as required per their insurance, as well as to accept what the insurance company is willing to pay the pharmacy for that prescription. When prescription insurance is paying for the prescription, the pharmacy is not permitted to discount a co-pay or to accept reimbursement other than what is contractually agreed upon with the insurance company. However, there are opportunities when a generic substitution is available. In those situations, a cash price for a prescription may be lower than an insurance co-pay. Talk to your pharmacist! They are always looking for ways to make your health care as affordable as possible.
- “It is an economic hardship for me to come up with 3 month prescription costs.” While mandatory mail order may promise cost savings to the SCSCG, it is proving to be a hardship for some employees and their dependents to pay a co-pay for a 3 month supply.
- “I don’t think anybody is advocating that mail order not be an option, even the local pharmacists.” This is an accurate statement. Our pharmacies are simply asking that our patients have a choice between any local retail pharmacy and mail order. We believe that the relationship between a pharmacist and a patient is critical. Pharmacists educate their patients in the proper use of inhalers, insulin injections, blood glucose monitors, etc. They offer information and education on supplements and over the counter products, and they ensure that medication adherence is occurring. We know that the State of Ohio Public School Retirees Program has recently dropped their mandatory mail order because the savings just did not meet their expectations of what was promised. We hope that the SCSCG will reconsider their decision and simply allow patients to exercise choice.
