WASHINGTON — The National Community Pharmacists Association issued a statement last week commending the Senate for its passage Oct. 5 of a bill that extends the DMEPOS accreditation deadline for pharmacies from Sept. 30 to Dec. 31, 2009.
"The bill allows seniors to continue getting these valuable products at community pharmacies and affords lawmakers additional time to exempt pharmacists from the regulation," the NCPA said. The action follows the House of Representatives' unanimous voice vote on the same legislation (H.R. 3663) sponsored by Reps. Zack Space, D-Ohio, and Lee Terry, R-Neb.
"The Senate acted wisely to ensure seniors can continue purchasing essential medical supplies from their community pharmacies," said Bruce T. Roberts, RPh, NCPA executive vice president and CEO. Sens. Max Baucus, D-Mont.; Charles Grassley, R-Iowa; and Jon Tester, D-Mont., "in particular, deserve recognition for shepherding the bill through," said Roberts. "Without it, thousands of independent community pharmacies would be forced to stop supplying diabetes testing supplies and other products to their patients."
According to an Oct. 6 article in Inside Health Policy, Tester backed the bill "because Montana is the kind of state that would have problems if pharmacists weren't allowed to sell DME," a source told the publication.
With great distances between pharmacies in some rural areas, the source was quoted as saying, "There's a certain level of health concern here. This is about monitoring your diabetes, so it's more than just an inconvenience."
But while pharmacists are happy with the extension, the NCPA said, its members are still hoping to be exempted from the accreditation mandate entirely. Nearly every health reform proposal contains some form of a pharmacy exemption.
"The accreditation requirements have proved to be onerous, expensive and duplicative for community pharmacists, who already must meet state licensing requirements," the NCPA said. "Pharmacists have not been associated with the fraud targeted by the regulations, but are the only health care providers not yet exempted."
Bills that would exempt pharmacists from the requirement have been introduced in both the House and the Senate. "Hopefully, Congress will enact their legislation before the new accreditation deadline," Roberts said.
As of June, the NCPA estimated that of the 23,000 independent pharmacies it represents, fewer than 10,000 had begun the accreditation process.
"It's safe to say most are not accredited and most found the process far too expensive and time-consuming for their pharmacy to complete," said Kevin Schweers, vice president, public affairs, for the NCPA. "Since they're already state-licensed, the lack of exemption is frustrating."
When it comes to an exemption, Schweers said, "I'd say we're hopeful that Congress will enact a qualified exemption for community pharmacy. There is bipartisan recognition of the problems the current system presents for patients and pharmacies and an exemption has been included in just about every health reform bill. Lawmakers just ran out of time before Sept. 30."
DMEs with Staff Pharmacists Don't Qualify
Regarding the extension, said accreditation expert Mary Ellen Conway, president of Capital Healthcare Group, Bethesda, Md., "It's unfortunate it is only for pharmacies but not for all DME [providers]."
Meanwhile, a Friday message from the National Supplier Clearinghouse points out that H.R. 3663 extends the deadline for pharmacies, but it also notes that the extension "specifically pertains to pharmacies supplying DME. Those entities registered through the National Supplier Clearinghouse as Medical Equipment Suppliers with a pharmacist on staff do not qualify for the extension."
In addition, the notice sets out:
- Pharmacies that were not accredited prior to the October deadline are not subject to the revocation of Medicare billing privileges at this time.
- Any pharmacies that submitted a voluntary termination that now wish to withdraw this request, must submit a letter to the NSC signed by the authorized official.
- The letter must be received by the NSC no later than Oct. 23, 2009.
- Letters may be faxed to the NSC by geographic location.
Read the notice in full, and view a map to get specific fax numbers for the letters by location.
