California District 3 Congressman Dan Lungren stopped at the Ione Pharmacy Tuesday morning to discuss a U.S. House bill aimed at protecting community pharmacies across the country. Lungren met with Ione Pharmacy owners and pharmacists, John and Carolyn Stremfel and also Brian Anderson, state relations manager of the National Community Pharmacists Association. Lungren was on a fact-finding visit for two bills pending in the U.S. House of Representative. John Stremfel told Lungren and Anderson that about 70 percent of his business was from pharmaceuticals sales. Stremfel said about 70 percent of his customers were over age 65 and on Medicare. “When you look at some of the large companies that are almost giving away their prescriptions, how’s that affecting you?” Lungren asked.
Stremfel noted that with California taking a percentage of Oxycontin prescriptions, the pharmacy loses money on those prescriptions. Lungen is pushing legislation in the House of Representatives called the “Saving Our Community Pharmacies Act of 2007, or HR 3140.” It would change the Medicaid generic drugs formula that drastically cuts pharmacy reimbursements. According to a release from the National Community Pharmacists Association, HR 3140 would “provide an accurate pharmacy reimbursement benchmark” and “ensure continued patient access to life-saving, cost-effective prescription medicines.” The release said the federal Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 makes Average Manufacturers Price “the basis for the Federal Upper Limit on generic drugs dispensed by Medicaid.” The General Accounting Office found Average Manufacturers Price-based Federal Upper Limit prices were below the pharmacy acquisition costs for 59 of 77 drugs sampled. The release said thousands of pharmacies with large Medicaid populations may be forced to close in the early months under the new reimbursement law. Lungren said his grandfather was a pharmacist in Souix City, Iowa, and his father was a doctor.
California District 3 Congressman Dan Lungren stopped at the Ione Pharmacy Tuesday morning to discuss a U.S. House bill aimed at protecting community pharmacies across the country. Lungren met with Ione Pharmacy owners and pharmacists, John and Carolyn Stremfel and also Brian Anderson, state relations manager of the National Community Pharmacists Association. Lungren was on a fact-finding visit for two bills pending in the U.S. House of Representative. John Stremfel told Lungren and Anderson that about 70 percent of his business was from pharmaceuticals sales. Stremfel said about 70 percent of his customers were over age 65 and on Medicare. “When you look at some of the large companies that are almost giving away their prescriptions, how’s that affecting you?” Lungren asked. 
Stremfel noted that with California taking a percentage of Oxycontin prescriptions, the pharmacy loses money on those prescriptions. Lungen is pushing legislation in the House of Representatives called the “Saving Our Community Pharmacies Act of 2007, or HR 3140.” It would change the Medicaid generic drugs formula that drastically cuts pharmacy reimbursements. According to a release from the National Community Pharmacists Association, HR 3140 would “provide an accurate pharmacy reimbursement benchmark” and “ensure continued patient access to life-saving, cost-effective prescription medicines.” The release said the federal Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 makes Average Manufacturers Price “the basis for the Federal Upper Limit on generic drugs dispensed by Medicaid.” The General Accounting Office found Average Manufacturers Price-based Federal Upper Limit prices were below the pharmacy acquisition costs for 59 of 77 drugs sampled. The release said thousands of pharmacies with large Medicaid populations may be forced to close in the early months under the new reimbursement law. Lungren said his grandfather was a pharmacist in Souix City, Iowa, and his father was a doctor.
