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Nearly all independent pharmacies surveyed across New York have stopped selling certain name-brand medications since Jan. 1, a new survey from the New York City Pharmacists Society shows.
The survey, released Monday, collected responses from 161 pharmacies to assess the impact of a new transparency rule that helps pharmacists see exactly how much money they lose to pharmacy benefit managers when dispensing prescription drugs.
Tom Corsillo, a spokesman for the pharmacist society, said as a result providers are more aware that they can lose more than $200 each time they dispense certain prescriptions. About 98% of survey respondents reported that they have since stopped selling some or all name-brand drugs since Jan. 1, when the state’s rule went into effect. The most common medications they’ve stopped selling to avoid such losses include weight loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, Merck’s diabetes medication Januvia, and Bristol Myers Squibb’s blood thinner Eliquis. Respondents also said they’ve ceased selling Symbicort, which treats asthma, and Biktarvy, an antiretroviral medication to treat HIV and AIDS.
The decisions disrupt patients’ access to their medications; 89% of respondents said they have turned patients away since Jan. 1.
“It is not sustainable economically for them to carry these drugs. [Some] have stopped carrying all brand-name drugs,” Corsillo said.
Additionally, the survey found that about 90% of respondents have been forced to lay off employees or reduce store hours because of PBM fees. Nearly all respondents said they know another pharmacy owner who is considering selling or closing their store.
February’s Change Healthcare outage, Corsillo said, complicated matters further. The cyber attack forced independent pharmacies to fill prescriptions through signed paper authorizations instead of typical electronic means. It created additional cash flow issues because pharmacists had to dispense medications without a guarantee that they’d be reimbursed by pharmacy benefit managers later, he said. Corsillo added that pharmacies are especially sensitive to cash flow challenges because their businesses always rely on reimbursements after the sales are complete.
The Pharmacists Society plans to evaluate data from the first two quarters of 2024 to assess regulatory solutions in the wake of the new transparency rule. The organization is also considering surveying its members on the impact of the Change outage, Corsillo said.
The New York City Pharmacists Society is an affiliate of the Pharmacists Society of the State of New York which is based in Albany.
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Jacqueline Neber , 2024-04-09 11:33:05
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