September 27, 2012—The Pharmacy Services Support Center (PSSC) Web site has been taken offline as a result of the closing out of the American Pharmacists Association's (APhA) contract with the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). APhA announced last week that HRSA awarded it a contract to manage the successor to PSSC, which it has run since 2002. … [Read more...]
Computer Glitch Affects 340B Contract Pharmacy Registration
Some entities are hurrying to file before Oct. 1, when new enrollment rules take effectSeptember 27, 2012—With a Sept. 30 deadline approaching, a technical problem with the 340B covered entity database is preventing covered entities from printing forms that they must sign to register contract pharmacies in the drug discount program. The problem appears to have arisen sometime on Sept 25. … [Read more...]
OPA Looking More Closely at Drug Manufacturer 340B Compliance
Prospect of audits of drug companies comes up during industry conferenceSeptember 26, 2012—After a year of unprecedented scrutiny of 340B covered entities, there are signs the Office of Pharmacy Affairs (OPA) is beginning to look more closely at whether drug manufacturers are fulfilling their obligations under the drug discount program and might even begin auditing some companies. OPA is "in the process of looking into some issues" with drug … [Read more...]
HRSA Awards 340B Contract to APhA
Successor to PSSC will focus on enhancing program oversightSeptember 24, 2012—The American Pharmacists Association (APhA) has been awarded a one-year contract with four option years to operate the successor to the Pharmacy Services Support Center (PSSC), the 340B technical assistance agency that APhA has run since 2002 under two previous federal contracts. The new agency will begin operations on Oct. 1, the pharmacists' group said … [Read more...]
Groups Comment on CMS’s 2013 Medicare Outpatient Payment Proposal
Applaud proposal to pay ASP + 6% for separately payable drugs and biologicalsSeptember 20, 2012—Hospitals that provide much of the nation’s charity care are applauding the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' (CMS) proposal to remove a flaw in its Medicare outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS) payment methodology that the safety-net care providers had previously asked it to address. Safety Net Hospitals for Pharmaceutical Access (SNHPA) … [Read more...]
OIG Examines How States Exclude 340B Claims From Medicaid MCO Rebate Requests
21 states have adopted ways to guard against duplicate discounts, study findsSeptember 20, 2012—Twenty one of the 25 states that use managed care organizations (MCOs) to administer their Medicaid pharmacy benefit have procedures to exclude 340B claims from their Medicaid MCO drug rebate requests, a new report has found. The report, by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG), focuses primarily on what states … [Read more...]
17 Senators Ask CMS to Broaden Medicaid Best-Price Exemption
Aim is to expand non-340B providers' access to nominally priced contraceptivesSeptember 14, 2012—Seventeen U.S. senators have asked the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to clarify that drug manufacturers can provide nominally priced pharmaceuticals to women's health centers and family-planning clinics that do not participate in the 340B program without fear of lowering those products' Medicaid best price. The senators made their … [Read more...]