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ALEXANDRIA, Va. – In comments to the New York Department of Financial Services’ Pharmacy Benefits Bureau, the National Community Pharmacists Association commended proposed regulations to govern the conduct of pharmacy benefit managers operating in the state and also offered constructive recommendations to help the final rule be most effective. Among other suggestions, NCPA advised the bureau to establish a professional dispensing fee based on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services-approved figure in New York’s Medicaid State Plan rather than inserting a specific figure (currently $10.18) that can eventually become outdated. NCPA also urged the bureau to clarify its definition of applicability by making the rule package apply to all PBMs licensed in New York unless expressly exempted by state law.
NCPA is the country’s largest organization of independent pharmacy owners. Their businesses and patients are greatly affected by PBM-insurer business practices, which often dictate where patients can acquire their prescriptions, how much they will pay for them, and how much pharmacies will be reimbursed for the prescriptions they dispense. Accordingly, NCPA has been a leader in national efforts to reform PBM-insurers and also works closely with state pharmacy organizations – such as the Pharmacists Society of the State of New York, for example – to advance policy changes.
To read NCPA’s comments, click here.
