BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Community pharmacists say changes to Medicaid reimbursement rules don't address their complaints that the cuts could jeopardize their ability to remain open.
The state's health secretary, Bruce Greenstein, said last week that revisions made in response to pharmacies' complaints should quell the backlash. But The Advocate reports (http://bit.ly/RlznPh ) the complaints haven't disappeared.
Louisiana Independent Pharmacies Association President Randal Johnson called the amended plan, set to begin Thursday, horrible. Johnson says what had been a 19% cut will now be about a 16.5% cut, which he says is too steep to absorb.
Greenstein disputes the pharmacies' claim of the extent of the cut, saying his data shows about a 3% reduction. He says his department will monitor claims payments to see if the impact is greater than anticipated.
Information from: The Advocate, http://theadvocate.com
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