Offers Legislation to Preserve Neighborhood Pharmacies Access to Diabetes Supplies

Congressman Aaron Schock (R-IL) has introduced legislation known as the Medicare Access to Diabetes Supplies Act, H.R. 1936, aimed at preserving the ability of the nation’s seniors to continue receiving their diabetic testing supplies from their neighborhood pharmacist. As the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) prepares to implement the second round of the competitive bidding program, Schock stresses that it’s imperative for Congress to exclude these local pharmacies in order to prevent a reduction in diabetes testing supplies, higher prices, and the possibility of reduced essential services that seniors currently rely on. His legislation would permanently exempt these testing supplies furnished by small community pharmacies from CMS’s competitive bidding program.

“Without help 97 percent of local pharmacies would be impacted by this change,” said Schock. “This comes down to ensuring that the decisions made in Washington don’t adversely affect neighborhood pharmacies and the seniors who rely on them on a regular basis for many of their health care needs.”

While Schock’s legislation exempts small pharmacies, defined as those with 10 or fewer stores, from future rounds of the competitive bidding program, these pharmacies would still be subject to the Medicare Part B fee schedule for durable medical equipment, so no pharmacy will be able to arbitrarily raise prices. The bill would also exempt retail pharmacies that provide home delivery of such supplies as diabetic testing supplies to their patients who are unable to leave their home due to health reasons.

Under the Medicare Modernization Act, the Health and Human Services Secretary, was required to begin a program of competitive bidding. However, because of concerns, the program was not fully implemented and in fact only lasted a couple of weeks. Included among the many reasons for delaying the program was that there were suppliers without an actual location in or near the bid area who thus would be unable to provide their equipment and services to Medicare patients, the providers were unlicensed which is a violation of state standards, and some of the bidders included companies who had no experience in providing the items they were bidding on.

“I have heard from many local and independent community pharmacists in my district, as well as seniors who are worried, and they have expressed their concern that what in theory might seem to be good for business will in fact do more harm than good,” said Schock. “I support the purpose of the competitive bidding program, but after learning more I believe that we need to take action so that this problem is stopped before it continues and no financial blow is felt by seniors.”