Bush Budget Proposal Prompts Pharmacy Furor

Feb 9, 2007 3:00 AM

WASHINGTON -- President Bush‘s proposed budget for 2008 has stirred up a firestorm in the pharmacy and drug industries. Pharmacists in particular are concerned because $1.2 billion would be cut from pharmacy reimbursement for generic medications in the Medicaid program over the next five years. Media reports said the aim of the budget was to slow growth of the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Pharmacists have already said that reimbursements were too low to cover their costs. Now the Coalition for Community Pharmacy Action, an alliance between the National Association of Chain Drug Stores and the National Community Pharmacists Association, both in Alexandria, Va., said in a statement that the proposed cuts “threaten the ability of pharmacists to provide quality care and continued access to patients.” Meanwhile, the statement noted that pharmacists are on the front line of the Medicare Part D prescription drug program, and said: “Pharmacies are, however, receiving slow reimbursements from Medicare plans for the prescriptions they dispense, and CCPA asks that the Medicare program pay pharmacists promptly.” The proposed budget also calls for fees for generic drug reviews by the Food and Drug Administration, and drug companies are objecting to that.