BOSTON — Despite an industrywide outcry, a Medicaid official held out little hope for timely changes to the new prescription reimbursement regulations, unless CMS is forced to do so by Congress. The regulations, which drastically cut reimbursements to retail pharmacies, go into effect on Oct. 1. “I don’t think anything is going to change probably until February of next year,” Deidre Duzor, director of the pharmacy division of CMS told SN following a “Medicaid Reform Update” during this week’s Pharmacy & Technology Conference held here by the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, Alexandria, Va. “Unless Congress takes some action, we’ve issued our final regulation. We will listen to comments in this 180-day comment period, which will end in early January. We might make some revisions based upon that, but I don’t think we would make major revisions,” she said. In February, states will have greater ability to increase reimbursements. “But I think that is really going to take, probably at the earliest a year for a couple of states that are at the forefront of this, and probably many years for all states,” she said.

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