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Article: Rx discount cards will hurt pharmacies, CMS chief admits
- Article from:
- Drug Topics
- Article date:
- January 7, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright Medical Economics Inc. Jan 7, 2002. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Tom Scully won't deny it: When drug costs shift, people get hurt. And he is perfectly candid about who gets hurt if President George W. Bush's proposed prescription discount card for seniors becomes a reality. Chain and community pharmacies will take a blow, as will drug companies.
But not everyone gets clobbered-- pharmacy benefit managers will capture more business. So be it, declared, in essence, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in an address at a Pharmaceutical Care Management Association meeting in Washington, D.C., last month.
"I don't blame pharmacists for being upset," said Scully. "They make their best margins on uninsured seniors who walk ...