Lanton Law Talks with Savages Drug About The Business of Pharmacy

We speak with Deb Rockwell; Business Manager at Savages’ Drug in Fairfield, Maine about the importance of understanding pharmacy accounts receivable. Listen the the interview here.

NCPA Files Lawsuit on Pharmacy Direct & Indirect Remuneration (DIR) Fees

The National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health &  Human Services (HHS) on DIR fees. Specifically, the complaint seeking declaratory and injunctive relief seeks three things according to NCPA’s release: 

• The rule’s definition of “negotiated price” violates the plain language and intent of Congress when they passed legislation creating the Medicare Part D program.

• The rule is invalid as arbitrary and capricious. In 2014 CMS said that the “reasonably determined” exception leading to DIR fees would be “narrow,” but comment letters showed that not to be the case.3 A recent study showed that pharmacy DIR fees have increased 1600% since 2015, with $4 billion in DIR fees being squeezed from pharmacies in 2017 alone.

• The Final Rule Was Not Adopted Through Proper Notice-and-Comment Rulemaking. The proposed rule defined negotiated prices to include all price concessions from pharmacies and did not discuss or address any exceptions. In the final rule, without giving interested parties notice or the opportunity to comment, CMS created the exception for price concessions that could not be reasonably determined at the point of sale.

 HHS did file a motion to dismiss available here. 

Lanton Law will continue to monitor the developments of this important case.

Lanton Law is a national boutique law and lobbying firm that focuses on healthcare/life science and technology. Our pharmacy practice has been helping pharmacies nationwide with operational issues, mergers and acquisitions, regulatory inquiries, audits, licensure, employment issues and contracting. Our lobbying entity (Lanton Strategies) is helping pharmacies nationwide achieve improved business climates through carefully crafted legislation.   

If you are an industry stakeholder with questions about the current landscape or if you would like to discuss how your organization’s strategic initiatives might be impacted by either Congress, regulatory agencies or legal decisions,contact us today.

Lanton Law Interviews the Massachusetts Pharmacists Association on DIR & Provider Status

We are excited to have Lindsay De Santis; Executive Vice President of the Massachusetts Pharmacists Association (MPhA) do a blogcast with us. Our conversation covers pharmacy DIR (direct and indirect remuneration) fees, pharmacy provider status and COVID-19.

Click here to access the Lanton Law blogcast.