Local pharmacists swallow bitter pill
Christmas may be the season for giving, but for Utah’s cash-strapped Legislature, it was time for taking away.
More money, that is. This time, from the state’s pharmacies.
In a letter sent to pharmacy operators just days before Christmas, the state forewarned that its Medicaid reimbursement would drop by 25 percent, effective Jan. 1. The rate change means pharmacists must cover more of the costs of Medicaid prescriptions.
The move is expected to deal a deathblow to some rural businesses, leaving customers in affected areas with no option but to get their medications elsewhere.
While the Utah Pharmaceutical Association is cautioning lawmakers that the resulting situation could get “pretty ugly,” many local pharmacists say the change comes as no surprise.
“I’ve seen it coming for a while now,” said Reed Conger, a pharmacist at Reed’s Pharmacy Inc. in Hyrum.
Conger supports the state’s decision in light of existing financial woes, but says he has other problems with the legislation. He said he fears the Legislature may not restore Medicaid reimbursement levels when better days return.
“I can live with reimbursement cuts till the economy turns around,” he said. “What I cannot live with is if it’s locked in forever.”
The cut means more bad news for consumers.
“Almost everybody’s co-pays in all plans will see a substantial increase,” Conger said. “We’re already seeing people pay $30 co-pays where they used to pay just $10.”
But co-pay increases and reimbursement cuts are just the tip of a great iceberg of problems with the nation’s health-care industry — problems that Jim Sundberg, a pharmacist at Lee’s Marketplace Pharmacy in Logan, insists can be summed up in one sentence: “Manufacturers are screwing everybody.”
“Six months ago, a cough syrup called Tussionex could be bought for $75 a pint. It now costs $150 a pint. Similar products are $5,” he explained. “Brand-name manufacturers have been doing this for years. Drug prices are going out of sight.”
Conger agrees.
“Manufacturers charge too much. I can’t see why,” he said.
Sundberg links the systemic chaos to extensive litigation against drug manufacturers. If the lawsuits were to stop, things might get better, he said. However, court cases aren’t the only evils plaguing the business.
“Insurance companies are raising premiums. It’s the whole system. Unless we quit trying to gouge everyone, this isn’t going to stop,” he said.
Conger believes the flow of events is gently nudging the country toward socialized medicine, a government-run health-care system, which according to some experts, ensures that everything — including food served in hospitals — becomes the stuff of major election-season battles, as is the case in neighboring Canada.
“The health-care industry is out of control, and I don’t know what the long-term solution is,” Conger said. “The problems have gone on for two decades.”
This story contains information from the Deseret News.
–leon@cc.usu.edu