Pharmacy Choice & Access Now Coalition Urges Full Implementation of Senate Bill 7

AUSTIN, Texas, July 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Pharmacy Choice and Access Now (PCAN) – a coalition of consumers, local businesses and pharmacists across the nation and Texas, committed to preserving quality and affordable health care – will be represented by coalition Texas spokesperson, independent pharmacist and pharmacy owner, Tammy Gray of Buda at the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program Regional Advisory Committee public meeting on Monday, July 18th. 

Tammy Gray, on behalf of PCAN, will speak to the necessity of fully implementing, into Texas Medicaid managed care, the critical pharmacy provisions recently passed by the Texas legislature in Senate Bill 7 (SB 7) to protect taxpayers, community-based pharmacies and Medicaid beneficiaries.  The key pharmacy protections guaranteed in SB 7 are:

• Open access pharmacy networks within a managed care framework;
• Permitting users of Medicaid pharmacy services to continue to retain the option of being served by their community pharmacy rather than a mail-order service with complete parity between retail and mail-order prescriptions;
• Prompt pay for crucial pharmacy services;
• Full transparency regarding administrative and other fees/mark-ups charged by pharmacy benefit managers.

"HHSC needs to make absolutely certain that the community-based pharmacy protection provisions, included in SB 7, are fully incorporated into Texas' recently enacted Medicaid reforms.  The full implementation of these protections is absolutely essential for the survival of local businesses like mine across the State of Texas and our ability to serve Medicaid patients," said Gray.  "That is why the legislature passed these protections into law."

Pharmacy Choice and Access Now strongly urges the Texas HHSC to promptly require all managed care organizations to re-bid their contracts with the state to ensure that all of the critical community pharmacy protection provisions of SB 7 are part of every managed care organization's programs for Texas Managed Medicaid.  The coalition urges that the state not move forward with any bid from a managed care organization that does not fully implement the key pharmacy protections outlined in SB 7.

About PCAN

Pharmacy Choice and Access Now (PCAN) is a coalition of consumers, local business and pharmacists across the nation committed to preserving quality and affordable health care and pharmacy services for patients. We are committed to providing the most cost-effective solutions in the areas of health care and pharmacy services to enable states around the country to help solve their budget woes, while maintaining quality care for children, families and other Medicaid-served populations.

For more information on Pharmacy Choice and Access Now (PCAN), visit www.rxchoiceandaccess.com.

SOURCE Pharmacy Choice and Access Now

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