Hi everyone! First, thank you so much to those of you who are still signing and sharing the petition. Thank you to the representatives who are taking a stand for us. I hope more will follow.
Insurance company's Pharmacy Benefit Managers, PBMs that force us to their OWNED mail order pharmacy seem to be very open and careless about the forcing of mail order pharmacy that risks patient's lives. The numbers of people who are being mandated to only use mail order pharmacy are rapidly increasing.
Please understand, I'm not totally against mail-order pharmacy, but I am 100% against only allowing this as the only option of coverage or even incentivizing it as there are many risks that many don't realize until their lives are threatened by delays, miscommunication, lack of temperature monitoring, no face to face interaction of a pharmacists who know patients and can explain and demonstrate (think injections) complex directions of medication usage, and my list goes on to over 100 ways. My Grandmother's independent pharmacy hand delivers her medications to her from a pharmacy staff and in a temperature controlled vehicle. That's the best way to deliver medications.
Mail order pharmacy isn't growing in numbers because patients are choosing it. It's growing in numbers because people are being forcefully pulled away from the hands of their trusted pharmacist through lack of coverage. A recent Consumer Reports Study showed patients still prefer independent pharmacies, but Many patients are also heavily incentivized to use mail order through $0 copays or lower copays and many elderly, poor, chronically ill cannot afford to pay more (Gill, 2018). Evidence has shown that although on the front end they may charge a lower copay, these PBMs reimburse their owned mail order pharmacy many times more than our independent and hospital pharmacies. This will certainly cost taxpayers and employees more through increased premiums or result in less care.
A recent news report shared how greedy PBMs are getting. Keep in mind 80% chance your PBM is Express Scripts, CVS, or Optum RX. As they reimburse our pharmacist extremely low, they force/steer us to PBM owned mail order pharmacy by only allowing coverage of our medications through mail order.
In my opinion, the more these acts are embarrassingly exposed, demonstrating PBMs actions are sadly not about what is best for patients, taxpayers, or OUR NATION. OUR REPRESENTATIVES THAT DO NOT TAKE A STAND ON THESE COMMON SENSE ISSUES ARE ALSO EXPOSED TO PUTTING CORPORATE PROFITS BEFORE VOTERS & OUR ENTIRE NATION.
PLEASE PLEASE watch this: http://www.fox8live.com/video/2018/12/27/medical-waste-investigation-results-new-law/
Thank you all for your support! Thank you to the pharmacist and reporters who are telling the stories. Legislatures are beginning to listen.
Loretta Boesing
Feel free to share your stories and concerns.
Email: stopmandatorymailorder@yahoo.com
Twitter: @BoesingLoretta
Facebook Page: Issues with Mail Order Pharmacy @justamomwholovesherson
Original Petition: https://www.change.org/p/attn-all-legistlatures-state-board-of-pharmacies-ban-mail-order-drug-mandates-from-all-health-insurance-plans-monitor
References:
Gill, Lisa L. “Consumers Still Prefer Independent Pharmacies, CR's Ratings Show.” Product Reviews and Ratings - Consumer Reports, 7 Dec. 2018, www.consumerreports.org/pharmacies/consumers-still-prefer-independent-pharmacies-consumer-reports-ratings-show/