CVS/Aetna merger: A big win for Georgia

GPhA — with our friends at the Medical Association of Georgia, Georgia Society of Clinical Oncologists, and Georgia Watch — fought hard against the CVS/Aetna merger. In the end we couldn’t stop it, but we did convince Georgia Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens to demand some significant, one-of-a-kind concessions from the companies before the state signed off on the deal.

He got them. We got them. Those concessions are a major win for patients and community healthcare providers.

GPhA had argued that without proper protections, a single company controlling health insurance, medication access (via the CVS Health PBM), and acting as a pharmacy could be hazardous to patients’ health by restricting their choice of healthcare providers and access to care.

So Commissioner Hudgens demanded protections before approving the merger. Of note and, to date, unique to Georgia:

• CVS/Aetna must invite non-CVS healthcare providers (pharmacies, physicians, clinics, etc.) to join its networks, and must set the same criteria for all those providers.
• CVS/Aetna must allow Georgia patients to use any healthcare provider — in or out of network — if that provider accepts the same conditions as those within the network.
• CVS/Aetna cannot require patients to use CVS-owned pharmacies, period — not for regular prescriptions, refills, or specialty drugs. These concessions reduce the chance that a combined CVS/Aetna can limit patients’ choice of healthcare providers.
• CVS Health must disclose the amount of rebates it receives from drug makers and how much of those it passed on to insurers.

We cannot applaud Commissioner Hudgens enough for standing up to these companies and imposing these critical protections before approving the merger. No other state we know of has required these kinds of protections for patients and providers before approving the merger.

A special thank-you has to go to pharmacists Jennifer Shannon and Daryl Reynolds, who came and testified for the commissioner on the dangers this merger posed for their practices and their patients.

Immunization certification!

It’s not just a cross between a rhyme and a tongue-twister — APhA’s hot certification class is coming for the last time this year: Sunday, December 2, from 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m at the GPhA Education Headquarters in Sandy Springs.

GPhA members get a huge discount — it’s only $349 for the course, which gets you not only the APhA certification, but (if you complete both the self-study and classroom work) a whopping 20 hours of CPE credit.

Check out GPhA.org/2018immunization for the details and sign up today!

You gotta believe

It’s only the Romaine lettuce from central and northern California that’ll kill you, according to the FDA. Go ahead, have some!

“Federal health officials believe it’s safe to eat the lettuce if it’s grown in greenhouses or other regions — and is labeled as such.”

Your cat wants meds

Petco and Express Scripts are teaming up to deliver prescription pet meds. (That links to the press release, but honestly all it says is ‘Petco is delivering prescription pet meds with the help of Express Scripts.’)