WASHINGTON — On April 2, U.S. Reps. Zach Space, D-Ohio, and Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo., introduced the Preserve Patents Access to Reputable DMEPOS Providers Act of 2009 (H.R. 1970). The bill would exempt pharmacies from having to post DMEPOS surety bonds.

"Community pharmacies want to continue providing their patients access to life-saving supplies and related services — such as diabetes testing strips — through participation in the DMEPOS program. Unfortunately, CMS' regulations require pharmacists to purchase $50,000 surety bonds to guard against fraud where there is no record of impropriety, while 14 other similarly-licensed medical providers have been exempted," Bruce T. Roberts, RPh, executive director and CEO of the National Community Pharmacists Association, said in a statement.

When added to the DMEPOS accreditation requirement, Roberts continued, the costs "are out of proportion with the small percentage that DMEPOS represents for independent community pharmacies' overall revenue. H.R. 1970 places the surety bond payment burden where it belongs — on the backs of those who run afoul of the program."

In rural and urban areas, the NCPA said, "independent community pharmacies are often the only health care provider that provides access to health care supplies."

Earlier this year, Reps. Marion Berry, D-Ark., and Jerry Moran, R-Kan., introduced a bill that would exempt pharmacists from Medicare's accreditation requirement (see Bill Would Exempt Pharmacists from Accreditation, HomeCare Monday, Jan. 26).