Don’t flat-line pharmacies
The Beaumont (Texas) Enterprise: Most Texans will support reasonable ways to reduce the state’s Medicaid costs. But if the state’s drastic proposal causes dozens of independent pharmacies to shut down, this cure seems worse than the disease.
Unfortunately, that’s the grim prospect facing countless independent pharmacies across Texas — many of which are the only option in their small towns for prescription drugs.
A state law that went into effect March 1 slashes Medicaid reimbursement rates by 80 percent for independent pharmacies. The change moves beneficiaries to managed care organizations like Amerigroup, Community Healthchoice and United Health Care. The shift is expected to save the state $100 million over the next two years.
Previously, pharmacists got about $8 per Medicaid prescription from the state. Now they will get less than $2 — about the same amount reimbursed by private insurance plans.