National Community Pharmacists Association to launch ad campaign to lobby lawmakers for policy changes

May 19 2008

The National Community Pharmacists Association this week plans to launch a new advertising campaign that asks lawmakers to address two policies that the group maintains has or will result in closures of community pharmacies, CongressDaily reports. As part of the launch of the campaign, about 500 community pharmacists and independent pharmacy owners will visit Washington, D.C.

The ads, which will appear on Tuesday and Wednesday in Capitol Hill publications, use the tagline, "You're getting screwed," and state, "That's the #1 comment we hear from senators, representatives and their staff" about the effect of the policies on community pharmacies. NCPA hopes to lobby lawmakers to pass legislation introduced last year that would require Medicare prescription drug plans to reimburse pharmacies within 14 days for electronic claims and 30 days for paper claims. Lisa Miller, vice president for public affairs at NCPA, said, "All the signs are there that this is going to be included" in a broader Medicare bill that Congress will consider next month.

In addition, NCPA hopes to lobby lawmakers to pass legislation that would delay for one year a rule issued by CMS that would revise the formula used to calculate Medicaid reimbursements for generic medications. According to CongressDaily, the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association plans to "fire back" and "re-run ... ads featuring three juicy green apples and a rotten one." The ads state, "Finding the bad apples isn't this easy ... and 'prompt pay' would make fighting fraud, waste and abuse even tougher" in the Medicare prescription drug benefit (Edney, CongressDaily, 5/16).