Dear Colleague,

Activity in Congress is stepping up with several of NCPA’s legislative priorities now formally introduced. The latest is S. 511, the Access to Durable Medical Equipment Act of 2009, a bill that would add pharmacists to a list of 17 medical professions that already are exempt from new accreditation requirements for Medicare Part B DMEPOS providers. The accreditation fees and implementation costs are at least $5,000 to $7,000 per pharmacy, reoccur every three years, and are totally unneeded and unwarranted for pharmacists and pharmacies already licensed and regulated by their state and DEA.

S.511 was introduced by Sens. John Tester (D-Mont.) and Sam Brownback (R-Kan.). A companion bill, H.R. 616, was introduced in the House by Reps. Marion Berry (D-Ark.) and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) Jan. 21. It currently has 45 signed supporters.

We are also working with several House offices on a bill that would exempt pharmacies from the $50,000/pharmacy Medicare DMEPOS surety bond requirement. The requirement took effect March 3, but providers don’t have to obtain a surety bond for an existing location until October 2009.

Legislation that would end one-sided PBM contracts was introduced in the House Feb. 25 by Reps. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.). They have been joined by 40 other bipartisan lawmakers on H.R. 1204, the Community Pharmacy Fairness Act of 2009. The bill would help level the playing field between more than 23,000 community pharmacies and the giant PBMs by creating a narrow antitrust exemption for collective contract negotiations.

This bill is identical to the one approved by the House Judiciary Committee last year, but which didn’t come up for a vote in the House. We are working to get sponsors for a similar bill in the Senate.

Three bills (H.R. 1166, H.R. 1173, and S. 470) were introduced in the Congress recently that would attempt to address the growing scourge of criminal gangs, operating across state lines, systematically stealing all manner of retail merchandise. The lead sponsors of the bills are Reps. Bobby Scott (D-Va.), Brad Ellsworth (D-Ind.), Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.).

The measures would make organized retail crime a federal offense (in contrast to simple state or local shoplifting laws) and would put requirements on online flea markets (such as eBay) to better monitor the origin of the products that are being sold on their sites. NCPA is participating in an Organized Retail Crime Coalition to advocate for passage of these bills given the increase in this type of criminal activity in pharmacies and other retail establishments.

The House Armed Services Committee will shortly be taking up the FY 2010 DOD reauthorization bill. We will be working to include an extension of the moratorium on TRICARE’s ability to increase retail pharmacy copays as compared to copays for its mail order program (TMOP). That moratorium expires on Oct. 1.

We will also try to include similar language in the Senate bill when it moves later in the year. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) has traditionally offered such an amendment in the Senate to help with this, and we hope to work with him again this year on this issue.

A final regulation that requires manufacturers to pay rebates to TRICARE for retail dispensed drugs is back at the White House Office of Management and Budget for review. This is usually the last stop before it is finalized.

Payment of these rebates by manufacturers will help reduce the cost of TRICARE retail prescriptions compared to TMOP, mitigating the need to shift to mail order. We are working with members of House Armed Services to encourage Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to issue the final rule on federal supply system (FSS) pricing. Once FSS pricing is extended to retail pharmacies, the TRICARE program will save hundreds of millions of dollars, and it will preserve choice for the beneficiaries.

In addition, we expect that legislation to fix the AMP-based Medicaid generic drug cuts will be introduced in the House and Senate in the next few weeks.

With all this legislative activity building, we need you at our annual legislative conference starting Monday May 11 at 1 p.m. through mid-day Wednesday, May 13. This is where our collective and individual voices can be heard. Don’t depend on someone else to go to bat for community pharmacy. Step up to the plate yourselves. Come to Washington for a rewarding and entertaining 48 hours.

Regards,