NCPA ANNUAL CONVENTION CALLS PBMS TO TASK 2004-11-01 (2)

LIZA CASABONA

BOSTON -- Speakers at National Community Pharmacists Association's 106th Annual Convention here last month blasted pharmacy benefit managers and discussed strategies the association has undertaken, including its Community Care Rx discount card program.

Comparing PBMs' actions to the "taxes imposed on the colonists by the British," Bruce Roberts, executive vice president and chief executive officer of the Alexandria, Va.-based association, challenged convention attendees to take action and get involved in NCPA efforts to revamp pharmacy practices and the health care system.

"At NCPA, our driving goal is to ensure that independent pharmacy not only survives, but thrives. To accomplish this goal, NCPA's Executive Committee and senior staff crafted a strategic plan ... That plan includes several goals, one of which is to assure a more appropriate role for pharmacy benefit managers," he said.

Sharlea Leatherwood, the outgoing association president and owner of Great Oak Pharmacy, Kansas City, Kan., voiced a similar perspective in her address. "Today's marketplace is becoming increasingly difficult. PBM tactics and abuses put pressure on independent pharmacists, both financially and professionally."

In one initiative undertaken to achieve its vision, NCPA has established Community Care Rx, Roberts said. CCRx is a Medicare drug discount card with no mail-order option that offers a 100-day supply of medications at the pharmacy counter, and provides payment to pharmacists for medication management services. The program was established through a partnership with Computer Sciences Corp. and MemberHealth, Leatherwood said.

More than 70 groups have endorsed the CCRx program. It reached 200,000 enrolled members recently, she added.

"CCRx is our opportunity to create a new pharmacy benefit model, a model that aligns the interests of all parties involved," she said.

Tony Welder, president-elect, NCPA, and owner of Dakota Pharmacy, Bismarck, N.D., echoed Leatherwood's statements in his acceptance speech at the convention. "NCPA will continue its campaign to assure a more appropriate role for PBMs in the marketplace," he said.