Grit Daily – August 17, 2020
Independent pharmacies are being forced into bankruptcy due to underpayment for Medicaid reimbursements, which are managed by Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs.) These small pharmacies are deciding to either turn away Medicaid patients or to close their practices, creating pharmacy deserts in poor neighborhoods.
A survey of 123 independent pharmacies in Florida found that over 60% “may be forced to discontinue taking Medicaid patients if changes are not made to the program that currently requires neighborhood pharmacies to sell most prescription drugs at a loss.” 93% declared having to turn away at least one Medicaid patient per month because dispensing to them would cause the pharmacy to lose money.
There are ripple effects to having pharmacies take repeated financial losses in order to provide patients with necessary medications. Many of the customers who were refused Medicaid drug fulfillment ended up having an adverse health effect. This puts a strain on local hospitals that are already dealing with COVID-19 patients.
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