1 2 3 4 5 6 » Legislative Update June 30, 2008 Last Updated: Jul 1 2008 12:24PM We heard late this afternoon that the motion for a Temporary Restraining Order in our pharmacy lawsuit (Farmacia Remedios, et. al. v. Shewry) will be heard on Thursday, July 3 at 1:30pm in Sacramento. Expect an update on Thursday evening. We also expect to hear late today that a motion for a Preliminary Injunction has been filed in the CMA/CPhA Coalition lawsuit. A hearing on that motion is expected on July 25. Thanks to all the pharmacy owners who prepared declarations in support of that motion.   CEO Message June 27, 2008 Last Updated: Jun 27 2008 12:00AM Urgent Alert Yesterday, many pharmacies in California received a letter by fax from DHCS. This letter was sent to pharmacies in error. I spoke with representatives from EDS and DHCS and was able to confirm that this letter will be used for institutional providers after July 1. The following statement from DHCS also confirms that pharmacies are a federally protected provider and will continue to receive payments even if the state does not have a budget.   CEO Message June 20, 2008 Last Updated: Jun 20 2008 7:34PM Ten Percent Medi-Cal Provider Cuts Update Today, our lawsuit hearing was canceled as the state moved our case to federal court.  We received word late yesterday that the attorneys for the Department of Health Care Services petitioned to move our case to federal court. This action at the eleventh hour is an extremely frustrating stall tactic on the part of the state.  This is the same tactic that was used in regards to the other two lawsuits. There is a slim chance that we will still receive a hearing before July 1 and we are doing everything possible to accomplish this. Our attorneys are filing a motion today to move the case back to state court, which we believe is the appropriate venue. Click here to read the press release we distributed today. On Monday, June 23 in Los Angeles Federal Court, the other two suits are scheduled for hearing. We will send an update on Monday as information becomes available. Legislative Update June 9, 2008 Last Updated: Jun 13 2008 5:19PM This is my last Legislative Update for CPhA. John Cronin will be filling in on the Legislative Update for the remainder of the 2008 Legislative Session.  John has been an incredible resource to me throughout my time at CPhA. He is a dedicated lawyer and pharmacist. CPhA is very lucky to have him on contract. I want to thank you all so very much for the opportunity to represent you in Sacramento. I have been incredibly fortunate to have met so many wonderful, intelligent and thoughtful individuals during my past two+ years at CPhA. I appreciate your generosity and support. There are too many people to thank individually and that, in and of itself, speaks volumes about the members of CPhA. I wish you all the very best!   CEO Message June 6, 2008 Last Updated: Jun 9 2008 1:38PM Ten Percent Medi-Cal Budget Cuts Update As I mentioned last week, our efforts are working to inform lawmakers and the public about the impending disaster to come should these cuts be implemented on July 1, 2008. There was another flurry of news articles this week related to the Legislature's activities. See articles below where Assembly Speaker Karen Bass has pledged to come up with $6.4 billion in additional revenues and savings to avoid funding cuts to health, education and social service programs. Other lawmakers have expressed extreme concern regarding these cuts as well. We will keep you regularly updated on any movement within the Legislature regarding provider cuts.   Legislative Update June 2, 2008 Last Updated: Jun 3 2008 1:00PM As Lynn mentioned in her CEO message last week, I have decided to leave the sunshine and GREAT wine for the humidity of the East Coast or as those from NY like to say...the Right Coast! I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at CPhA and thank all of you for providing me the opportunity to represent you in Sacramento. It has been an absolute privilege. I'll provide my contact information before I leave. More to come...   CEO Message May 30, 2008 Last Updated: May 30 2008 12:00AM Medi-Cal Reimbursement Cuts Update This has been a very busy week, albeit a short one. Significant progress has been made on several fronts. On the legal front, we continue to move ahead as well as work to get our coalition lawsuit back into state court while looking at additional legal actions. I should have more information on this next week.   CEO Message May 23, 2008 Last Updated: Jun 2 2008 11:52AM Medi-Cal Budget Cuts Update Legal Action - This week, CPhA and our partners were very disappointed to learn that the Attorney General's Office petitioned to have both pending lawsuits moved to federal court. Our legal team has told us that this will delay our action. However, this does not mean that we won't prevail in stopping the cuts; it just means that it could be in the eleventh hour before the scheduled implementation of July 1, 2008.   Legislative Update May 19, 2008 Last Updated: May 19 2008 6:44PM The May Revision reflects significant cuts to Medi-Cal eligibility including undocumented immigrants and newly qualified immigrants. The proposed cuts eliminate California's $111-million program of healthcare for legal immigrants, and pares back the healthcare provided to impoverished people who have been in the country for five years or less, for a savings of $87 million. The Revised Budget also allows cuts in rates to non-contract hospitals servicing Medi-Cal beneficiaries. There are no additional cuts in Medi-Cal provider rates beyond the 10% provider rate decrease already proposed by the Governor and enacted by the Legislature in February to be implemented July 1, 2008.   CEO Message May 16, 2008 Last Updated: May 19 2008 6:09PM Governor's Proposed May Revise Offers No Relief for Healthcare and Significantly Worsens the Situation for California’s Poor and Vulnerable Citizens   Legislative Update May 12, 2008 Last Updated: May 12 2008 12:00AM The May revise for the State Budget is expected to be released on Wednesday or Thursday of this week. We will be providing information regarding the May revise once it is released.   CEO Message May 9, 2008 Last Updated: May 15 2008 12:07PM CPhA Joins Alliance in Filing Lawsuit Against the State of California's 10 Percent Reduction in Reimbursement for Medi-Cal On Monday, the attorneys for a coalition of providers filed a class action lawsuit against California in Los Angeles Superior Court to stop the 10 percent cuts. The coalition includes CPhA, the California Medical Association, the California Hospital Association, the California Dental Association, the California Association for Adult Day Services, the California chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians and the California Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems. This coalition is seeking a temporary injunction to stop these cuts from going into effect on July 1, 2008.   Legislative Update May 5, 2008 Last Updated: May 5 2008 12:00AM Budget discussions for fiscal year '08-'09 are continuing. The budget discussions going on now are separate from actions taken as part of the fiscal emergency called by the Governor in January. We anticipate a better picture of the State's revenue and an overall fiscal update when the May revise is released the week of May 12th.   CEO Message May 2, 2008 Last Updated: May 2 2008 12:00AM Budget Cut Update This week we continued to move full steam ahead with our PR campaign. We had calls with many supporters around the state including pharmacists, the Alliance for Patient Care, our pharmacy coalition, APhA staff members and with the California Chronic Care Coalition (CCCC)...   CEO Message April 25, 2008 Last Updated: Apr 25 2008 12:00AM On Monday, the first lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court to enjoin the 10 percent cut in Medi-Cal provider payments. The attorney who filed this suit is Lynn S. Carman of Novato. The suit was filed on behalf of the largest California independent living center, two southland pharmacies and two Medi-Cal recipients. We'll keep you posted on the progress of this action.   CEO Message April 18, 2008 Last Updated: Apr 22 2008 6:57PM On Wednesday, CPhA hosted its Annual CPhA Legislative Day. It was a huge success as more than 375 pharmacists and student pharmacists, many wearing white coats, joined us in Sacramento. CPhA staff was able to make appointments with more than 2/3rds of the legislators and many of the visiting teams made additional appointments. During these visits, members discussed the Governor's cuts to Medi-Cal that begin on July 1, 2008 and urged legislators to vote YES on AB 2535 (CPhA sponsored), which deals with inadequate reimbursement to pharmacy providers. Additionally, they discussed our support if amended position on SB 1307, which will, among other things, extend the date for implementation of e-Pedigree for pharmacies to July 1, 2012. During the course of the day, we attended a rally at the Capitol in support of the Alzheimer's Association and its fight against the Governor's cuts. You may read our news release by clicking here. I'd also like to share with you some of the compliments we received for this year’s Legislative Day...   Legislative Update April 7, 2008 Last Updated: Apr 7 2008 12:00AM The Assembly Health Committee met on Tuesday, April 1, 2008. Assembly Member Dr. Edward Hernandez, author of AB 2535 (a CPhA sponsored bill that seeks to address the inadequacies of pharmacy reimbursement) did a great job in presenting the bill. I testified along with our contract lobbyist, Jim Gross, on behalf of CPhA and its member pharmacists regarding the importance of fair pharmacy reimbursement and the various and continuous cuts to pharmacy reimbursement stemming from laws passed at the federal level. The current impending 10% state cut to pharmacy reimbursement along with the potentially devastating results if such cut is implemented was also highlighted in our testimony. Our pharmacy partners, CRA, NACDS, Walgreen's and Rite Aid, all testified in support of CPhA's bill. The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) concisely addressed the recently released Survey of Dispensing and Acquisition Costs of Pharmaceuticals conducted by Myers and Stauffer at the request of DHCS. We fully recognize all of the issues facing pharmacy and will keep you posted as we continue to work to address them in the legislative session.   CEO Message April 4, 2008 Last Updated: Apr 17 2008 2:39PM Update on 10 Percent Budget Cuts Over the course of the last week, nearly all of the elements of our plan to fight the 10% Medi-Cal cuts have sprung into action. We agreed to engage the same attorneys that NCPA and NACDS used to stop AMP implementation. We believe they have sound theories and a strong chance of prevailing. Additionally, we'll be joining the California Medical Association suit. The cost of dispensing study is fully underway and both chain and independent pharmacies will be contacted, starting next week, to get data into the system as quickly as possible. We plan to produce the first data set in May and will use this study as a comparison to the California study by Myers and Stauffer. Further, our PR campaign will begin to be visible next week. We have many other activities underway so please know that we are doing everything we possibly can and welcome your ideas and participation at any time. Contact me directly at lrolston@cpha.com.   CEO Message March 28, 2008 Last Updated: Mar 27 2008 12:00AM Today, the Department of Health Care Services released the long overdue Myers & Stauffer study from last year on pharmacy dispensing and acquisition costs. As expected, the study concluded that the current Medi-Cal dispensing fee is well below the average cost of dispensing, finding that the statewide average (mean) cost of dispensing, weighted by Medi-Cal volume, was $10.81 per prescription. This result does not include any allowance for a reasonable profit for the pharmacy. Based on Myers & Stauffer report, the dispensing fee would need to be increased by almost 50% to cover actual dispensing costs. However, the report also concluded that pharmacies were still making adequate margin on the “spread” between what Medi-Cal pays for covered drugs and the pharmacies’ actual drug costs to more than compensate for the shortfall. The study did not, however, take into consideration in its analysis the impact of the shift to AMP-based reimbursement for all prescription drugs that was included in last year’s State Budget. That change will largely negate the margins Myers & Stauffer found related to drug product acquisition. CPhA will continue to analyze the entire report and will provide more information as it becomes available. You can view the report by clicking here.   CEO Message March 21, 2008 Last Updated: Mar 21 2008 12:00AM Important Update and Action Requests Regarding the 10% Budget Cuts CPhA helped form a huge coalition of pharmacy partners and patient advocates to fight the 10% Medi-Cal cuts and to prevent the potential patient harm these cuts could cause. We are in the process of engaging a PR firm, a legal firm, a grassroots effort, media outreach, and more to protect California's pharmacy patients. This effort is going to be extremely costly and while the CPhA board allocated significant funding for this effort, we need your help as well. Today, we established a Pharmacy Defense Fund for California. You can make your contribution by clicking on the logo on at www.cpha.com.   1 2 3 4 5 6 »