Community Pharmacists Protest Slow Part D Payment Process

Community pharmacists say that they are struggling to stay afloat after receiving slow and low payments from Medicare Part D plans. Pharmacist associations are lobbying Congress to assist them in obtaining higher reimbursement fees and faster payments. Their pharmaceutical suppliers demand payment every two weeks, but Medicare Part D plans typically takes 30-45 days to process claims and reimburse the pharmacists. Part D plans argue that Congressional legislation requiring speedier Part D pharmacy payments would require them to create entirely separate payment processing systems just for Medicare claims. It will be interesting to see how this plays out– if smaller community pharmacies discontinue filling prescriptions for Medicare beneficiaries, it will have a profound effect on the success of Part D.