New Senior Care Pharmacy Coalition Website Details LTC Pharmacy Policy Agenda

PRESS RELEASE

Washington, DC — In announcing the new Senior Care Pharmacy Coalition (SCPC) website is now live (www.seniorcarepharmacies.org), SCPC’s President and CEO said that among the group’s most significant objectives is to help educate lawmakers, regulators, staff and the health care policy community about the value of independent LTC pharmacies to seniors’ care, and the significant differences between the retail and long term care pharmacy sectors.

“Our mission is to help ensure lawmakers, regulators, staff and the broader health care policy community understand why independent LTC pharmacies are increasingly important to seniors’ care, the significant difference between retail and long term care pharmacies, and the unique impact of policy challenges on this crucial element of our health care delivery system,” stated Alan G. Rosenbloom, SCPC’s President and CEO.

The SCPC represents companies that own and operate independent long-term care pharmacies (LTCPs) in roughly 40 states, serving over 325,000 residents in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) and assisted living facilities (ALFs).

Rosenbloom said the advisory and care management services LTC pharmacies offer are crucial to continuity of care, and the ongoing quality of care that patients receive. The average LTC facility resident, he notes, takes 11-13 prescription medications each day. Medications for residents change frequently, particularly within 30 days of admission to a facility, and any time a resident undergoes a significant change in condition.

“With a growing, dynamic healthcare marketplace rightly placing a premium on quality care, positive outcomes, reduced hospital readmissions and more efficient use of taxpayer dollars, independent LTC pharmacies are an increasingly significant ‘value-added’ component in the broad continuum of care,” he continued.

The SCPC leader said the group’s issue agenda would be guided by the overarching principles of:

· Clinical efficacy and achieving optimal patient outcomes

· Pricing transparency and marketplace equity

· Regulatory efficiency, effectiveness and fairness

· Policy prescriptions that anticipate and act upon future trends related to our long term and post acute care patient populations

Within this flexible framework, the current focus of the SCPC is on the following four issues, the details of which can be viewed in more detail at http://seniorcarepharmacies.org/policy-priorities/.

· Maximum Allowable Cost (MAC) Pricing

· Medicare Part D Lock-In

· Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) Relationships

· Protecting 2016 Daily Dispensing Fee (DDF) Rule Implementation