This year we saw some positive litigation outcomes for independent pharmacies. Let’s talk about two recent victories in PBM litigation. (Both cases were brought by Mark Cuker who represents several groups of pharmacies across the nation).
One of the cases was brought in California against Optum alleging misrepresentation, fraud, and breach of contract. Optum filed
Pharmacy terminations based on aberrant quantities and products are becoming more and more prevalent. It is difficult to appeal such terminations due to broad definitions of aberrant products/quantities and PBMs’ excessive discretion on what constitutes such products and volumes.
For example, PBM manuals usually state that Provider “must not dispense aberrant quantities of” certain products
I am starting a series of posts consisting of mini-topics that I covered during my December webinar. I had many questions regarding the information presented and will try to address some of the issues in this series.
Today I will be talking about manufacturer coupons, which is a common cause of significant PBM recoupments.
Let’s
Last week, California pharmacies filed a legal action against OptumRx alleging patient steering and violations of California law by paying low reimbursement rates.
Independent pharmacies allege that OptumRx is paying them substantially less than to chain pharmacies and Optum’s mail-order pharmacy for the same prescriptions. Pharmacies also complain that OptumRx reimburses them below acquisition cost.
A group of independent pharmacies filed a lawsuit against OptumRx alleging various unfair/illegal business practices, such as reimbursements below cost, price manipulations, discriminatory treatment. Mark Cuker of the Jacobson Law Group filed the case in Pennsylvania and Illinois on behalf of independent pharmacies, and he is looking into filing a similar action in California.
This
On March 10, 2020, CMS issued guidance to Part D sponsors urging them to relax some of the requirements that could disrupt access to medications due to the coronavirus outbreak. It recommended that Part D sponsors take the following steps:
Do you purchase test strips from suppliers authorized by manufacturers to distribute these products? If not, you may face significant chargebacks and contractual termination when PBMs audit your pharmacy’s test strips invoices.
Virtually all PBM require test strips to be purchased from the suppliers expressly authorized by manufacturers to distribute their products. Most PBM manuals
Many pharmacies ask if they need to notify PBMs of a disciplinary action and if so, when? Many fear that PBMs may terminate their contracts with the pharmacy. As a result, only some end up providing notices, while some are terminated for failure to provide a timely notice of a disciplinary action.
If we look
A survey conducted by the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) revealed that almost all independent pharmacies experience significant increase in drug acquisition cost while reimbursements are not simultaneously adjusted to reflect the increase. Often, reimbursements are adjusted but with remarkable delays. When pharmacies appeal these MAC reimbursements and delays in adjusting generic pricing, the appeals
In 2018, CMS proposed a Medicare rule that would eliminate retroactive DIR fees. One of the rationales for the rule was a colossal growth of DIRs between 2010 and 2017. During this period of time, DIRs grew by 45,000%.
As a result of this aggressive “performance enforcement” by PBMs, many pharmacies are reimbursed below cost