Latest / Pharmacy Podcast Network / The Value of a Trusted Wholesaler & Cole’s Act Update | TWIRx

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The Value of a Trusted Wholesaler & Cole’s Act Update | TWIRx · Pharmacy Podcast Network

0:03
Speaker 1: Hey, Welcome to this Week in Pharmacy. Today is August fourteenth,
0:09
Speaker 1: twenty twenty six. This is TWERKS. We have a big show.
0:14
Speaker 1: Bill Schmidtnick is coming back to twerks to give us
0:16
Speaker 1: an update on Cohle's act out of Wisconsin. We're going
0:20
Speaker 1: to be talking to the president of Value Drug, Rick Site,
0:24
Speaker 1: about the changes that are happening to the markets, especially
0:28
Speaker 1: in the Northeast area, the north, the westside, east side
0:33
Speaker 1: of the United States with the closing of Smith Drug.
0:39
Speaker 1: We're going to be talking about a lot of other things,
0:43
Speaker 1: especially through the news. Lots going on and ACDs Total
0:47
Speaker 1: Store Expo coming up this weekend. All this and more
0:50
Speaker 1: on twarks. Hey, welcome to this Week in Pharmacy. I'm
1:28
Speaker 1: here Rick the Rick Site, farm d pharmacist, CEO of
1:34
Speaker 1: Value Drug Company. This is a special episode because we
1:37
Speaker 1: have twers has always been intended to be a news program.
1:41
Speaker 1: I want latest of what's happening. I don't know if
1:43
Speaker 1: we can get any more later than some of the
1:45
Speaker 1: changes that are happening at Value and some of the
1:47
Speaker 1: opportunities that are happening at Value. Talk to our listeners
1:50
Speaker 1: about the big announcement.
1:52
Speaker 2: Absolutely and appreciate you having us here today. I love
1:55
Speaker 2: a partnership from at this point in time with Value.
1:59
Speaker 2: It's a very exciting because unfortunately for some of the
2:03
Speaker 2: pharmacies that are out there, they're losing a wholesale partner.
2:06
Speaker 2: Smith Drug was a very important partner for many of
2:09
Speaker 2: the pharmacies that are in our area, and they'll be
2:12
Speaker 2: ceasing operations at the end of September. And would love
2:15
Speaker 2: to get a chance to talk to them, partner with them,
2:17
Speaker 2: and be able to provide services for them, help keep
2:20
Speaker 2: them serving their patients the way that they have been
2:22
Speaker 2: for so many years.
2:24
Speaker 1: I have personal friends, I have pharmacists and pharmacy owners
2:29
Speaker 1: I've known for years that they've used Value Drug Company.
2:33
Speaker 1: They have personal relationships with the organization. There is something
2:39
Speaker 1: very appealing when you're treating your patients from the storre's perspective,
2:46
Speaker 1: from the pharmacy's perspective, and you feel that you're being
2:49
Speaker 1: treated that same way, with that same care. As we
2:52
Speaker 1: were walking into the Hilton here we're broadcasting live from
2:56
Speaker 1: the Hilton here in Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania, you and I were
2:59
Speaker 1: talking about exactly.
3:00
Speaker 2: That, absolutely, and really it's that relationship that starts with
3:04
Speaker 2: us in the pharmacy and hopefully it allows them and
3:07
Speaker 2: frees them up and puts them in the right place
3:10
Speaker 2: of mind and just thought process to be able to
3:14
Speaker 2: just take care of their patients. That's why they went
3:16
Speaker 2: to school, That's why they went to pharmacy school, is
3:19
Speaker 2: to really just to take care of the public, be
3:21
Speaker 2: able to treat their patients and make a difference. And
3:25
Speaker 2: hopefully we make that easy for them. And that's the intention.
3:28
Speaker 2: And if they need something, they can pick up the phone,
3:31
Speaker 2: they talk to a real person. They get to that
3:33
Speaker 2: person that helps to aid them. You know, whether it
3:36
Speaker 2: be one of the members of our pharmacy team like
3:38
Speaker 2: John James or Nicole Hassen, or if it's our customer
3:42
Speaker 2: service representative that is answering calls all day long. We
3:45
Speaker 2: want to make sure that we're there for them.
3:47
Speaker 1: Let's talk about the markets. You've experienced growth and coverage
3:51
Speaker 1: throughout the United States, So which areas, which states are
3:55
Speaker 1: we are we concentrated in now?
3:57
Speaker 2: So overall values footprint really has always been eastern Ohio, Maryland,
4:03
Speaker 2: and Pennsylvania. Really at this point we can reach as
4:07
Speaker 2: far west overnight to Indiana, as far east as the
4:10
Speaker 2: end of Massachusetts, we go north to the Great Lakes,
4:13
Speaker 2: through New York and down through Virginia. So right now
4:17
Speaker 2: our focus is in our home area and then spreading
4:20
Speaker 2: east and west, so really making sure that we can
4:22
Speaker 2: talk to more pharmacy owners in the state of Ohio,
4:25
Speaker 2: particularly West Virginia, Kentucky, and then going east upstate New York,
4:29
Speaker 2: Connecticut and just continue to spread from there. And obviously
4:34
Speaker 2: we want to talk to folks not only primary but
4:36
Speaker 2: also secondary and even in our home areas as well too.
4:39
Speaker 2: That's important to us.
4:40
Speaker 1: Rick. You know, it's one thing I think it's the
4:43
Speaker 1: most important thing to be customer oriented and understanding what
4:47
Speaker 1: your customers experiencing what their challenges are. But then in
4:52
Speaker 1: today's world, it's twenty twenty six, we're talking about modern technologies.
4:56
Speaker 1: We're talking about warehouse technologies and delivery and logistics. It's
5:00
Speaker 1: interesting that you're delivering the most important part of this
5:04
Speaker 1: relationship out front first. But guess what value drug company
5:08
Speaker 1: has invested in multimillions of dollars of infrastructure to be
5:12
Speaker 1: prepared for the future in order to compete with some
5:15
Speaker 1: of the bigger wholesalers. Talk to our listeners about that.
5:18
Speaker 2: Infrastructure absolutely, and for us, it's a matter of making
5:22
Speaker 2: sure that when you order a product, you know you're
5:24
Speaker 2: going to have it. So the services, we're very proud
5:28
Speaker 2: of that, but we're equally as proud as making sure
5:31
Speaker 2: that if you order a product, it's what you're getting
5:34
Speaker 2: and you get it there timely and in the right shape,
5:37
Speaker 2: it's not something's not crushed or damaged. And that seems simple,
5:40
Speaker 2: but sometimes it's not that simple. Our accuracy is over
5:44
Speaker 2: ninety nine point nine nine five percent, which is a
5:48
Speaker 2: crazy number to think about. But literally every order that
5:51
Speaker 2: goes for our warehouse is checked again just before it
5:54
Speaker 2: goes out in the truck, piece by piece, literally from
5:58
Speaker 2: every scan. We have automation, so we can double our
6:00
Speaker 2: volume in no time as well too, essentially overnight, to
6:05
Speaker 2: allow us support us to support the pharmacies, and that's
6:08
Speaker 2: what's so important. So we want to make sure we
6:10
Speaker 2: get it there and get it there the right way.
6:12
Speaker 1: So prescription is that lifeblood of that independent community pharmacy.
6:17
Speaker 1: But now other things are happening in care. We're seeing
6:22
Speaker 1: patients being cared for their diabetic or their hypertension or something,
6:27
Speaker 1: and now the pharmacists are doing treatment tracking and treatment management.
6:31
Speaker 1: Talk to us about the programs and some of the
6:34
Speaker 1: things that you're helping to infuse into your customer base,
6:38
Speaker 1: and how it's the next generation pharmacists that's coming to table.
6:42
Speaker 2: Absolutely, and that's so exciting because some of the pharmacists
6:45
Speaker 2: that are just graduating or recently graduated, they bring some
6:49
Speaker 2: different perspectives for us, right and some pharmacists have been
6:54
Speaker 2: doing clinical care and on the edge of clinical care,
6:57
Speaker 2: I should say, because we're always doing clinical care, but
6:59
Speaker 2: on the edge of clinical care for years. So for us,
7:02
Speaker 2: it's a matter of making sure that we fit what's
7:05
Speaker 2: right for that pharmacy. Everyone may not be at the
7:08
Speaker 2: same place. So whether it's as simple as an immunization
7:11
Speaker 2: program or higher end provider status, that's what the team
7:15
Speaker 2: there is ready to support. If it's a billing platform
7:18
Speaker 2: that someone needs, or just questions on how to perform
7:21
Speaker 2: the evaluation and monitoring type of billing codes, etc. Those
7:26
Speaker 2: are all things that we want to make sure that
7:28
Speaker 2: we just don't have a cookie cutter solution, but a
7:29
Speaker 2: solution for whatever that pharmacy needs and to be able
7:33
Speaker 2: to allow them to practice at the top of their
7:34
Speaker 2: license as well.
7:36
Speaker 1: You know, I couldn't have started the pharmacy podcast network
7:40
Speaker 1: if I didn't have experience in other facets of pharmacy.
7:44
Speaker 1: I didn't even know what to talk about back in
7:46
Speaker 1: two thousand and nine when I started the show. But
7:49
Speaker 1: because I had been soaking in technology and I started
7:53
Speaker 1: understanding workflow, and I started understanding challenges that pharmacists were
7:57
Speaker 1: having in getting therapies and answers their customers. There's a
8:02
Speaker 1: similar pathway that you had with your previous employer with
8:08
Speaker 1: Wise pharmacies, that you had relationships with manufacturers. You got
8:12
Speaker 1: to know these people, you got to know them at
8:15
Speaker 1: a personal basis. There's a lot of strength that's now
8:17
Speaker 1: being brought to that through Value Drug Company. Talk to
8:21
Speaker 1: us about those relationships with manufacturers.
8:24
Speaker 2: Absolutely, and relationships are the key to I will say
8:27
Speaker 2: all businesses, and particularly pharmacy, just like what you said,
8:31
Speaker 2: your relationships and how you've grown them. Same with us
8:34
Speaker 2: and growing those manufacturer partnerships. And I will say it
8:38
Speaker 2: is not me, it is the team. The team just
8:42
Speaker 2: does a great job. We have folks that had worked
8:44
Speaker 2: for Value for five years, for ten years, for thirty years,
8:49
Speaker 2: and they are they have that relationship where they pick
8:52
Speaker 2: up the phone and someone's answering, and that's just so critical,
8:56
Speaker 2: especially when there's a product that's in short supply or
8:59
Speaker 2: there's allocation or time like this where maybe we don't
9:02
Speaker 2: typically utilize a product or that quantity of it, and
9:06
Speaker 2: you get those things done and those relationships are key
9:10
Speaker 2: and obviously continue to nurture them for my whole career.
9:14
Speaker 2: But obviously it's the team and the team that's behind
9:17
Speaker 2: us to really help make sure that we secure the
9:20
Speaker 2: product that people need and the services for that matter,
9:23
Speaker 2: because it's not just product, it's the whole continuum.
9:26
Speaker 1: Well, let's talk about that for a second, because the
9:29
Speaker 1: pharmacy owners who are stressed out business. Running pharmacy businesses
9:34
Speaker 1: is stressful, even if you're a small chain or one
9:38
Speaker 1: independent community pharmacy doesn't matter. The Smith Drug team personalized
9:45
Speaker 1: services and the kind of feeling that these pharmacy owners
9:50
Speaker 1: are going to get that they really regret the collapse
9:54
Speaker 1: of Smith Drug. The handholding and the white glove service
9:58
Speaker 1: that they're getting from your drug company. It's that same
10:02
Speaker 1: feeling of personalization, and so I think that there's something
10:06
Speaker 1: to that.
10:07
Speaker 2: Yes, and I appreciate take that as a compliment. And
10:09
Speaker 2: obviously from Smith, they did a great job at doing that,
10:13
Speaker 2: and I'd like to think that we do too, and
10:15
Speaker 2: those are some of the best compliments that we can
10:17
Speaker 2: have is hey, you are just like or you were
10:19
Speaker 2: better than a blank, right, And that's what we want
10:22
Speaker 2: to bring to the table. We don't want them to
10:25
Speaker 2: miss a beat because we know that the stress I
10:27
Speaker 2: think you highlighted that, the uncertainty, the stressors, the not knowing,
10:32
Speaker 2: those are the things that keep you up at night.
10:34
Speaker 2: And we want it to be seamless of the fact
10:36
Speaker 2: that they can just get the product they want or
10:39
Speaker 2: order from or through a GPO that they might be utilizing.
10:43
Speaker 2: These are things that allow them to continue to service
10:45
Speaker 2: their patients. And that's the type of service and hands
10:48
Speaker 2: on as well too. Like you said that White Glove
10:51
Speaker 2: service has been a hallmark of value drug for a
10:53
Speaker 2: long time.
10:54
Speaker 1: It's a special opportunity happening tonight. People that are listening
10:58
Speaker 1: to this week in pharmacy are listening too. It's a Friday,
11:01
Speaker 1: getting ready for the weekend. But you have a lot
11:05
Speaker 1: of regional meetings planned. What meetings are coming up next
11:10
Speaker 1: week that you'll be at.
11:11
Speaker 2: I appreciate it. We have a couple of meetings that
11:14
Speaker 2: are coming up right here in Pittsburgh. Obviously we've as
11:17
Speaker 2: this is being taped, but we'll be going into West Virginia,
11:21
Speaker 2: two locations in Ohio, so Clarksburg, West Virginia, essentially Mason
11:25
Speaker 2: and Columbus, Ohio, and also at the same time New York,
11:30
Speaker 2: New York State and Schenectady, and also two locations in Connecticut.
11:35
Speaker 2: So our goal is to be able to meet pharmacies,
11:38
Speaker 2: see them there and really answer questions. We're there to
11:42
Speaker 2: help to reassure, spend some time with them and let
11:45
Speaker 2: them know that there's a partner that they that they
11:47
Speaker 2: can come talk to, lean on, ask questions of, and
11:50
Speaker 2: really have a good replacement for them.
11:52
Speaker 1: Rick, we so much appreciate you for jumping on the
11:56
Speaker 1: pods here on twerks and being with us. We have
11:59
Speaker 1: another special episode that's going to be coming up later
12:03
Speaker 1: I think next month or okay, before the end of August.
12:06
Speaker 1: August is quickly. I'm thinking of school, I'm thinking of
12:09
Speaker 1: all the changes that are making, but it's all going
12:12
Speaker 1: too fast. But thank you so much for being here.
12:15
Speaker 1: I want listeners to just ask questions. Reach out, go
12:18
Speaker 1: to Value Drug Co. I think it's dot com, right, yeah,
12:23
Speaker 1: Value Drug CEO dot com ask questions. You'll see the
12:27
Speaker 1: link in the show notes. If you're driving or you're
12:30
Speaker 1: doing something you can't, don't worry about it. Get back
12:32
Speaker 1: somewhere google Value Drug Company. They'll come right up. Rick.
12:37
Speaker 1: This has been special time with you, and I appreciate
12:39
Speaker 1: you for making this time for our listeners.
12:41
Speaker 2: Thank you. I really appreciate it, and thanks for what
12:42
Speaker 2: you do.
12:48
Speaker 3: Feeling lost with the complexities of pharmacy accounting.
12:51
Speaker 4: In pharmacy today, there's so many different variables and issues
12:56
Speaker 4: to that impact the pharmacy, books, records, accounting, the offabilities
13:00
Speaker 4: for or so forth. There's different components of pharmacy that
13:03
Speaker 4: have its own nuances from an accounting standpoint, and so
13:07
Speaker 4: it's it's tricky, there's no doubt about it.
13:09
Speaker 3: Ready to take your pharmacy to the next level, but
13:11
Speaker 3: don't know where to start. Psychs and Company is here
13:14
Speaker 3: to help, introducing the RX Assessment. With the RX Assessment,
13:19
Speaker 3: the pharmacy CPAs and advisors at PSYKES will do a
13:22
Speaker 3: deep dive into your accounting and tax situation and give
13:25
Speaker 3: you the action steps you need to take to take
13:28
Speaker 3: your pharmacy to the next level.
13:30
Speaker 4: If you're interested in, you know, working with a team
13:33
Speaker 4: who understands the industry and how the accounting and tax
13:36
Speaker 4: should really be in a pharmacy, this is this is
13:40
Speaker 4: your chance to get an under the hood check of
13:42
Speaker 4: what's going on and getting the feedback of any issues
13:45
Speaker 4: or concerns or again things we think are doing really well.
13:48
Speaker 3: With get the financial check up your pharmacy needs and
13:50
Speaker 3: head over to Sykes HYPHENCPA dot com or call two
13:54
Speaker 3: five to two four eight two seven six four four.
14:13
Speaker 1: This week in pharmacy, it's been a good week. We're
14:18
Speaker 1: getting ready for the NACDS Total STOREXP August fifteenth through
14:24
Speaker 1: seventeenth in Beantown they call it Beantown anymore, Boston, Massachusetts.
14:30
Speaker 1: Please if you are there, look us up. We're going
14:34
Speaker 1: to be at the FDB the First Data Bank oh booth.
14:38
Speaker 1: We're going to be broadcasting and collecting interviews about the
14:43
Speaker 1: the innovators of our chain pharmacies throughout the nation. I
14:49
Speaker 1: can't wait to talk with some of the people that
14:52
Speaker 1: have already signed up. We have a great number of
14:56
Speaker 1: innovators that are that are coming on the show. So
14:58
Speaker 1: once again, if you are at the NACDS Total STOREXPO,
15:02
Speaker 1: please reach out to me, let me know that you're
15:05
Speaker 1: going to be there. Let's connect love connecting with people.
15:09
Speaker 1: Zoomies are great zoom meetings, but it's better to be
15:13
Speaker 1: in front of everyone. Hey, a very very special episode
15:19
Speaker 1: with Bill Schmidtnick coming up next. You're not going to
15:23
Speaker 1: want to miss this. Please, if you have the interwebs
15:27
Speaker 1: at your disposal, everybody does, I want you to share
15:31
Speaker 1: this interview with a fellow state representative or state senator
15:36
Speaker 1: and also your pharmacy state associations. Here's Bill Hey special
15:46
Speaker 1: gathering here on twerks today August What is today August fourteenth.
15:53
Speaker 1: I'm not sure if you've heard. If you most of
15:56
Speaker 1: you have if you listen to twerks is we're progressing
16:00
Speaker 1: with the Cohle's Act, which is a proposed state legislative
16:06
Speaker 1: measure introduced in Wisconsin aimed at reforming PBM's pharmacy benefit managers.
16:13
Speaker 1: It was inspired by the tragic death of Cole Schmidtnick,
16:17
Speaker 1: a twenty two year old who died from an asthma
16:19
Speaker 1: attack after his daily inhaler was suddenly removed from his
16:24
Speaker 1: PBM formulary without any notice, without any warning, and it
16:28
Speaker 1: was causing out of pocket costs to skyrocket, which Cole
16:33
Speaker 1: wasn't able to keep up with. I am so honored
16:35
Speaker 1: to have back on twerks. Bill Schmidtnick Cole's father, Welcome
16:41
Speaker 1: to the show.
16:42
Speaker 5: Thank you, Todd you no, I'm glad to be here.
16:45
Speaker 5: You explained everything very well and thank you for that,
16:48
Speaker 5: and it's an honor to be back on the show.
16:49
Speaker 5: I'll just say that you're a great voice and well
16:53
Speaker 5: along with my mission you're doing. Your show brings such
16:56
Speaker 5: a powerful voice to it, so I'm happy to be here.
16:59
Speaker 1: We want to serve our profession, but more importantly, when
17:04
Speaker 1: I'm serving the profession, we're serving the patient. And for
17:07
Speaker 1: a failure of the system to cause what has been
17:12
Speaker 1: catastrophic for your family is irreprehensible. It's you can't excuse it.
17:19
Speaker 1: There's no reason it should be that way. Our healthcare
17:22
Speaker 1: system is bent, it's broke, and we're really trying to
17:27
Speaker 1: make differences. So people like you that have taken such
17:30
Speaker 1: a tragedy and you're applying it to PBM reform, which
17:34
Speaker 1: in my opinion, is the worst part of our healthcare
17:37
Speaker 1: system right now based on how much money is sucked
17:39
Speaker 1: through the system that doesn't go to patient care, and
17:43
Speaker 1: how models are drastically different if you look at a
17:49
Speaker 1: chain pharmacy that has its stipulations, and we just heard
17:54
Speaker 1: a story there's a bunch of pharmacists out there, Bill
17:57
Speaker 1: who are pissed off that they're being commanded by their
18:01
Speaker 1: ships and lords and commanders to start doing flu shots
18:06
Speaker 1: in July just to have metrics, just to get money.
18:11
Speaker 1: And it has no idea because they're saying that the
18:15
Speaker 1: time of getting infected with flu is it's all a
18:21
Speaker 1: timing thing, so if you get it too early, it's
18:24
Speaker 1: not going to even do anything for you. And now
18:27
Speaker 1: these commanders at some of these chains are saying, hey,
18:31
Speaker 1: you got to get your flu shots up, and it
18:33
Speaker 1: just doesn't make sense. We know that that has nothing
18:35
Speaker 1: to do with healthcare. It has everything to do with
18:38
Speaker 1: positioning the part of health care that's the dirtiest, which is, hey,
18:44
Speaker 1: let's make as much money as possible. So give us
18:46
Speaker 1: an update on Coal's act and how it's progressing in Wisconsin.
18:52
Speaker 1: And what I'm excited about is when we reach the
18:54
Speaker 1: goal line and we get this across the goal line.
18:57
Speaker 1: It's going to impact the rest of the nation.
19:00
Speaker 5: Yeah, that's exactly it. You know, aren't My entire mission
19:03
Speaker 5: is for coal and everybody else. I mean, I know
19:05
Speaker 5: that sounds kind of silly, but you know, I'm going
19:07
Speaker 5: to get justice for my son through many different actions,
19:11
Speaker 5: but I want to make sure no one else gets
19:13
Speaker 5: hurt like him. And Cole's Act. We started it last
19:18
Speaker 5: year and it didn't happen in Wisconsin. There was a
19:22
Speaker 5: lot of healthcare interest against us, long and short of it.
19:26
Speaker 5: It passed unanimously in the committees on the Senate side,
19:31
Speaker 5: never got called for a vote. There's a whole bunch
19:33
Speaker 5: of politics behind it. But I don't let that slow
19:35
Speaker 5: me down, and I don't really want to talk about that, honestly,
19:38
Speaker 5: just because we're over it. It's a fresh start and
19:41
Speaker 5: for twenty seven and actually right now we are bringing
19:45
Speaker 5: Coals Act back to the table. What I've gained since
19:51
Speaker 5: I've started this two and a half years ago, now,
19:53
Speaker 5: since Cole's death in January of twenty four, I've got
19:56
Speaker 5: a great group of people. I've never been very politic.
20:00
Speaker 5: Now I have a political action team. I'll just say that.
20:05
Speaker 5: So where we're at essentially is we're working with legislators
20:09
Speaker 5: on both sides because this is bipartisan. It always has
20:12
Speaker 5: been getting commitments for support, and we've got several elected
20:20
Speaker 5: officials I can't release names yet, of course, in Wisconsin
20:24
Speaker 5: that have committed to bringing the bill forward again. The
20:27
Speaker 5: good news is our bill doesn't need to be reconstructed.
20:31
Speaker 5: It's a very strong bill. Like you said, there's protections
20:34
Speaker 5: in there that would help the state of Wisconsin. But
20:38
Speaker 5: just like the other states that have passed PBM reform,
20:41
Speaker 5: it's going to help everybody too, because it's going to
20:44
Speaker 5: be a model to follow to bring transparency to the
20:48
Speaker 5: pharmacy benefit managers and to get them in control. The
20:53
Speaker 5: Coles Act, you know, works on fiduciary responsibilities and that's
20:57
Speaker 5: that's something that is very unique out there with the
21:00
Speaker 5: federal protection under the ARISA plans. If we can get
21:05
Speaker 5: our you know, get this mission going and other things
21:09
Speaker 5: I have going, we are going to change the direct
21:12
Speaker 5: trajectory of pharmacy benefit.
21:14
Speaker 1: Manager for bill. The Coals Act is well written and
21:20
Speaker 1: it's it has more meat on it than what our
21:22
Speaker 1: listeners might understand. So just quick, the core goals of
21:27
Speaker 1: Coals Act is to stop mid year formulary changes, to
21:31
Speaker 1: prevent PBMs from altering drug coverage tiers or removing medications
21:37
Speaker 1: from formularies without advanced notice and medical justification outside of
21:42
Speaker 1: standard renewal periods. And then also it protects patient choice.
21:47
Speaker 1: We've always wanted patient choice. We should not be forced
21:51
Speaker 1: to use a specific pharmacy because of what insurance tells
21:55
Speaker 1: us to do. That doesn't make geographic sense, it doesn't
21:58
Speaker 1: make convenient sense, it doesn't make accessibility sense when you
22:03
Speaker 1: shove patients into a corral that you force them to
22:07
Speaker 1: use specific pharmacies because of insurance. The protect patient choice
22:11
Speaker 1: part of this would guarantee that patients can use any
22:15
Speaker 1: license pharmacy in the state without being penalized or forced
22:19
Speaker 1: into PBM affiliate affiliated mail order retail chains. And then
22:24
Speaker 1: something else that I think is pretty thick and it
22:26
Speaker 1: makes absolute sense, is this fair pharmacy reimbursement. This prohibits
22:32
Speaker 1: PBMs from paying independent in community pharmacies reimbursement rates that
22:37
Speaker 1: sit below the actual cost of filling the prescription and
22:41
Speaker 1: mandate timely reimbursements within thirty days. The reason why that
22:45
Speaker 1: is important just for our listeners. It might not understand
22:48
Speaker 1: pping reform is if you do not reimburse an independent,
22:52
Speaker 1: for example, in a community that that's the only source
22:56
Speaker 1: of health care for miles and miles, you are causing
23:00
Speaker 1: public health harm to that entire area of getting access.
23:05
Speaker 1: And you and I know we've already said this before, Bill,
23:09
Speaker 1: which is it's an absolute shame. If Cole went to
23:13
Speaker 1: an independent pharmacy for that exact situation that was happening,
23:16
Speaker 1: and he looked them in the eyes and he's like, listen,
23:19
Speaker 1: I don't have this. Can we get this straightened out later?
23:22
Speaker 1: They would have given him that inhaler and they would
23:24
Speaker 1: have been like, all right, let's we'll straighten this out
23:26
Speaker 1: a little bit later, and it wouldn't have been this
23:29
Speaker 1: hardened corporate bullshit that is like keeping people in corrals.
23:34
Speaker 1: Like I said, it's all about fast food medicine that
23:37
Speaker 1: we have to break out of.
23:39
Speaker 5: Yeah, no's you said it, well, said I mean. And
23:45
Speaker 5: that's the thing. I mean. The nice thing about Cole's Act,
23:49
Speaker 5: he said, it brings these protections. It still allows for
23:52
Speaker 5: certain things to happen. It doesn't you know, tell a
23:56
Speaker 5: corporate healthcare apbim that you can't use mail order, but
24:02
Speaker 5: the patient gets to choose. That's the reality of it.
24:05
Speaker 5: You know, this game is so crazy. I mean, like
24:08
Speaker 5: I'm on some medication myself that I won't buy from
24:12
Speaker 5: my local pharmacy. And that's how there is to it.
24:18
Speaker 5: I mean, like it's they lose too much money. That's
24:22
Speaker 5: the reality of it. I mean, like, so I sometimes
24:25
Speaker 5: have to use mail order myself, but I choose to
24:27
Speaker 5: do it, you know, until I can get a safer alternative,
24:31
Speaker 5: you know. I mean, like, but that's the way it
24:33
Speaker 5: should be. I shouldn't have to play these games. I'm
24:35
Speaker 5: fortunate that I know the way how to play the
24:37
Speaker 5: game because I've had to learn it since my son's death.
24:40
Speaker 5: And it's it's sad in this country that I have
24:43
Speaker 5: to play a game to get my medicine and other
24:47
Speaker 5: people don't know how to play and they get hurt,
24:49
Speaker 5: and it's a it's got to stop. It will stop.
24:53
Speaker 5: And there's so many good advocates out there. We've got
24:56
Speaker 5: stuff happening at the national level also, which just passed
25:00
Speaker 5: out a committee forty forty to two some pharmacy benefit
25:05
Speaker 5: manager reform at the federal level on the Medicaid programs
25:08
Speaker 5: and employees. But Everything that happens is bringing forward change
25:14
Speaker 5: and it's all going to trickle down. And when I
25:17
Speaker 5: started this a couple of years ago, I was told,
25:20
Speaker 5: whether I like it or not, the federal stuff has
25:23
Speaker 5: to be addressed first to get Congress to act. And
25:26
Speaker 5: I didn't like it. But you know what, it's happening.
25:31
Speaker 5: It's taken a little bit longer, but it is happening.
25:34
Speaker 5: We have made the most progression in many ways on
25:38
Speaker 5: pharmacy benefit manager reform. And you know in Wisconsin we've
25:44
Speaker 5: got I don't want to put the cart before the
25:46
Speaker 5: horse in any shaking leak, but I but I do
25:48
Speaker 5: feel our obstacles from last year are not obstacles this
25:52
Speaker 5: year and we should be trudging forward. And there's a
25:57
Speaker 5: lot of agendas going on for twenty seven in Wisconsin,
26:00
Speaker 5: and Cole's Act will be at the top of the list.
26:02
Speaker 1: It's awesome, Bill. We are so proud of you. You
26:07
Speaker 1: have the force of the Pharmacy podcast network behind you.
26:11
Speaker 1: If you ever want to jump on any of the
26:13
Speaker 1: forty shows that would tie into some of these issues,
26:16
Speaker 1: you have access. I want to give a shout out
26:19
Speaker 1: to Pharmacists United for Truth and Transparency, the Putt group
26:22
Speaker 1: has been absolutely phenomenal. I feel like they're one of
26:26
Speaker 1: the street fighters out there that don't play the polite game.
26:35
Speaker 1: They're they're like, they're gonna slug you in the face.
26:37
Speaker 1: So I really enjoy they're.
26:39
Speaker 5: Gonna get it done and they don't. They're not going
26:41
Speaker 5: to stop either, because a Pharmacists United has a lot
26:45
Speaker 5: of pharmacists behind the scenes that help the organization and
26:49
Speaker 5: they feel the pain just like the people out that
26:51
Speaker 5: they're trying to protect. And they're a great organization and
26:54
Speaker 5: they've got great connections and you know, from everything that's
26:58
Speaker 5: going on from pharmacy, if it managed reform, the Monopolies Act,
27:02
Speaker 5: the Trycare hearings, Put's been a force with everything. So
27:07
Speaker 5: it's awesome.
27:07
Speaker 1: It is awesome. Yeah, we want to talk more about
27:10
Speaker 1: try Care where it will be on an upcoming episode
27:12
Speaker 1: of this Week in Pharmacy. Hey, hold on listeners, we're
27:16
Speaker 1: going to be doing Twerks News coming up next. I
27:18
Speaker 1: want to say thank you God, blessed to you, Bill,
27:22
Speaker 1: you and your family and everything that you guys have
27:25
Speaker 1: gone through. Like I said, you will always have the
27:29
Speaker 1: pods here at your disposal, and we helped to have
27:32
Speaker 1: you back soon.
27:33
Speaker 5: Great, Thank you Todd, appreciate this and I will talk
27:36
Speaker 5: to you soon and.
27:38
Speaker 1: Thank you, thank you. Back back back on twerks, I
27:48
Speaker 1: want to go through some twerks news quickly. Hope everyone
27:54
Speaker 1: is paying attention to PBM reform and how is impacting healthcare,
28:01
Speaker 1: how it's impacting your effectiveness as a provider as a pharmacist.
28:08
Speaker 1: I know how frustrated that you are. We are tracking
28:12
Speaker 1: PBM reform all over the nation on Twerk's news from
28:17
Speaker 1: Axios just this week in pharmacy, more employers are dropping
28:23
Speaker 1: the largest PBMs once again. This is Axios News, which
28:28
Speaker 1: was published this week August twelfth. It goes on to
28:31
Speaker 1: say that more corporations are cutting ties with the three
28:34
Speaker 1: biggest pharmacy benefit managers in striking deals with smaller rivals
28:40
Speaker 1: to help manage their drug costs. A new survey from
28:44
Speaker 1: the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions found why it
28:49
Speaker 1: matters well. First of all, the findings are the latest
28:53
Speaker 1: signed of a shift underway in employer sponsored healthcare as
28:58
Speaker 1: companies grapple with soaring health costs in a threat of
29:02
Speaker 1: worker lawsuits tied to how well they managed plans and
29:07
Speaker 1: What they found is not shocking to any of our listeners.
29:11
Speaker 1: They went into a survey of four hundred and eight
29:15
Speaker 1: employers conducted in May and June, found that nearly half
29:19
Speaker 1: forty six percent were using a PBM other than the
29:24
Speaker 1: three big the three big ones, the ones, the culprits
29:27
Speaker 1: that have caused all of this issue, our CPS, Care Mark,
29:32
Speaker 1: optim our X, and Express Scripts. Shame on Express express Scripts,
29:37
Speaker 1: by the way, as a side, shame for what they're
29:40
Speaker 1: doing to our veterans and keeping care from our veterans
29:44
Speaker 1: through Trycare. We'll talk more about that. Fifty six percent
29:49
Speaker 1: of those still using one of the big three indicated
29:52
Speaker 1: they were considering making a change in the next three years.
29:56
Speaker 1: Thirty one percent of the companies using alternative alternative to
30:00
Speaker 1: the larger PBMs are considering a change, and employers project
30:04
Speaker 1: a seven point seven percent increase in their health cost
30:10
Speaker 1: next year. Cost keep going up. Cared Gets does not
30:14
Speaker 1: get better from any of these three organizations that once
30:18
Speaker 1: again siphon the money over and over and over again.
30:25
Speaker 1: Very frustrating, and we're tired of it, very tired of it.
30:31
Speaker 1: So if your state, if your state is involved in
30:37
Speaker 1: PBM reform, if you have a state representative that you
30:40
Speaker 1: could suggest for the show. We do have a show
30:43
Speaker 1: that's one hundred percent dedicated to PBM reform. The PBM
30:46
Speaker 1: Reform Podcast came out in twenty nineteen. It's the leading
30:51
Speaker 1: podcast about PBM reform and we're sponsored by APCI, and
30:56
Speaker 1: the host is Greg Ribold. He's a lawyer, he understands
31:00
Speaker 1: the business. He's been part of Independent Community Pharmacy for years.
31:04
Speaker 1: And APCI has members that are pouring so much of
31:10
Speaker 1: their resources, time and money into national PBM reform. Very
31:14
Speaker 1: excited about what's happening and shout out to APCI. Thank
31:18
Speaker 1: you so much for your support of the show, PBM
31:21
Speaker 1: Reform Podcast. Hey, next up on Twerque's News. Has anybody
31:27
Speaker 1: heard of Ipledge that's a lowercase I and then pledge
31:31
Speaker 1: Risk Evaluation Mitigation Strategy, or known as REMS. This program
31:38
Speaker 1: was put out by the FDA, originally implemented in early
31:43
Speaker 1: two thousand and five and approved as the Ipledge REMS
31:47
Speaker 1: in twenty ten, and the goal of Ipledge REMS is
31:51
Speaker 1: to mitigate the risk of embryo fetal toxicity. It is
31:56
Speaker 1: a shared system REMS meeting that it's included in all
32:01
Speaker 1: FDA approved products. It provides a centralized system for prescribers, pharmacies,
32:07
Speaker 1: and patients to manage patient risk regardless of the product
32:12
Speaker 1: being used. Read up on this. They are putting implementation
32:18
Speaker 1: of the ipledge REMS modifications. It's been delayed until November,
32:24
Speaker 1: and it was originally supposed to take place with the
32:27
Speaker 1: new modifications as of June sixteenth, twenty twenty six. Shout
32:33
Speaker 1: out to doctor Daniel Plummer who does our Maternal RX podcast.
32:39
Speaker 1: I'm going to reach out to her and see if
32:42
Speaker 1: we can get more information on ipledge REMS risk evaluation
32:48
Speaker 1: and mitigation strategies. We are excited about this weekend. It's
32:53
Speaker 1: a work weekend for me. If it's a work weekend
32:56
Speaker 1: for you, Shout out to all of our pharmacy technique
33:00
Speaker 1: and pharmacists having to work the weekend. We will be
33:04
Speaker 1: in Boston. Please come see us at NACDS Total Store Expo.
33:11
Speaker 1: Go to LinkedIn if you want to get a hold
33:13
Speaker 1: of me, or just email me my last name Urie.
33:17
Speaker 1: You are why at pharmacypodcast dot com. Once again, that's e.
33:22
Speaker 1: You are Why at pharmacypodcast dot com. Hey you guys
33:29
Speaker 1: are doing amazing things. Please, I know how frustrated. There's
33:33
Speaker 1: certain sectors of our pharmacy industry can be of anything
33:38
Speaker 1: that you need. Investigations, stories being told coming onto. Trques.
33:43
Speaker 1: This is your show, this is your this week in pharmacy,
33:47
Speaker 1: So thank you so much for everything you do. Wishing
33:50
Speaker 1: you a fantastic weekend. We'll see in Boston.