Accreditation Deadline Extended for Pharmacies; DMEs with Staff Pharmacists Don’t Qualify

WASHINGTON — The National Community Pharmacists
Association issued a statement last week commending the Senate for
its passage Oct. 5 of a bill that extends the DMEPOS accreditation
deadline for pharmacies from Sept. 30 to Dec. 31, 2009.

“The bill allows seniors to continue getting these valuable
products at community pharmacies and affords lawmakers additional
time to exempt pharmacists from the regulation,” the NCPA said. The
action follows the House of Representatives’
unanimous voice vote on the same legislation (H.R. 3663)
sponsored by Reps. Zack Space, D-Ohio, and Lee Terry, R-Neb.

“The Senate acted wisely to ensure seniors can continue
purchasing essential medical supplies from their community
pharmacies,” said Bruce T. Roberts, RPh, NCPA executive vice
president and CEO. Sens. Max Baucus, D-Mont.; Charles Grassley,
R-Iowa; and Jon Tester, D-Mont., “in particular, deserve
recognition for shepherding the bill through,” said Roberts.
“Without it, thousands of independent community pharmacies would be
forced to stop supplying diabetes testing supplies and other
products to their patients.”

According to an Oct. 6 article in Inside Health Policy,
Tester backed the bill “because Montana is the kind of state that
would have problems if pharmacists weren’t allowed to sell DME,” a
source told the publication.

With great distances between pharmacies in some rural areas, the
source was quoted as saying, “There’s a certain level of health
concern here. This is about monitoring your diabetes, so it’s more
than just an inconvenience.”

But while pharmacists are happy with the extension, the NCPA
said, its members are still hoping to be exempted from the
accreditation mandate entirely. Nearly every health reform proposal
contains some form of a pharmacy exemption.

“The accreditation requirements have proved to be onerous,
expensive and duplicative for community pharmacists, who already
must meet state licensing requirements,” the NCPA said.
“Pharmacists have not been associated with the fraud targeted by
the regulations, but are the only health care providers not yet
exempted.”

Bills
that would exempt pharmacists from the requirement have been
introduced in both the House and the Senate. “Hopefully, Congress
will enact their legislation before the new accreditation
deadline,” Roberts said.

As of June, the NCPA estimated that of the 23,000 independent
pharmacies it represents, fewer than 10,000 had begun the
accreditation process.

“It’s safe to say most are not accredited and most found the
process far too expensive and time-consuming for their pharmacy to
complete,” said Kevin Schweers, vice president, public affairs, for
the NCPA. “Since they’re already state-licensed, the lack of
exemption is frustrating.”

When it comes to an exemption, Schweers said, “I’d say we’re
hopeful that Congress will enact a qualified exemption for
community pharmacy. There is bipartisan recognition of the problems
the current system presents for patients and pharmacies and an
exemption has been included in just about every health reform bill.
Lawmakers just ran out of time before Sept. 30.”

DMEs with Staff Pharmacists Don’t Qualify

Regarding the extension, said accreditation expert Mary Ellen
Conway, president of Capital Healthcare Group, Bethesda, Md., “It’s
unfortunate it is only for pharmacies but not for all DME
[providers].”

Meanwhile, a Friday message from the National Supplier
Clearinghouse points out that H.R. 3663 extends the deadline for
pharmacies, but it also notes that the extension “specifically
pertains to pharmacies supplying DME. Those entities registered
through the National Supplier Clearinghouse as Medical Equipment
Suppliers with a pharmacist on staff do not qualify for the
extension.”

In addition, the notice sets out:

• Pharmacies that were not accredited prior to the October
  deadline are not subject to the revocation of Medicare billing
  privileges at this time.
• Any pharmacies that submitted a voluntary termination that now
  wish to withdraw this request, must submit a letter to the NSC
  signed by the authorized official.
• The letter must be received by the NSC no later than Oct. 23,
  2009.
• Letters may be faxed to the NSC by geographic location.

Read the notice in full, and view a map to get specific
fax numbers for the letters by location.