Walgreens: no new Medicaid patients as of April 16 in WA State

[BigBadBrian]

Walgreens: no new Medicaid patients as of April 16

Walgreens will stop taking new Medicaid patients in Washington state as of April 16, saying it loses money filling their prescriptions.

By Janet I. Tu

Seattle Times staff reporter


Effective April 16, Walgreens drugstores across the state won't take any new Medicaid patients, saying that filling their prescriptions is a money-losing proposition — the latest development in an ongoing dispute over Medicaid reimbursement.

The company, which operates 121 stores in the state, will continue filling Medicaid prescriptions for current patients.

In a news release, Walgreens said its decision to not take new Medicaid patients stemmed from a "continued reduction in reimbursement" under the state's Medicaid program, which reimburses it at less than the break-even point for 95 percent of brand-name medications dispensed to Medicaid patents.

Walgreens follows Bartell Drugs, which stopped taking new Medicaid patients last month at all 57 of its stores in Washington, though it still fills Medicaid prescriptions for existing customers at all but 15 of those stores.

Doug Porter, the state's director of Medicaid, said Medicaid recipients should be able to readily find another pharmacy because "we have many more pharmacy providers in our network than we need" for the state's 1 million Medicaid clients.

He said those who can't can contact the state's Medical Assistance Customer Service Center at 1-800-562-3022 for help in locating one.

Along with Walgreens and Bartell, the Ritzville Drug Company in Adams County announced in November that it would stop participating in Medicaid.

Fred Meyer and Safeway said their pharmacies would continue to serve existing Medicaid patients and to take new ones, though both expressed concern that the reimbursement rate is too low for pharmacies to make a profit.

The amount private insurers and Medicaid pay pharmacies for prescriptions isn't the actual cost of those drugs but rather is based on what's called the drug's estimated average wholesale price. But that figure is more like the sticker price on a car than its actual wholesale cost.

Washington was reimbursing pharmacies 86 percent of a drug's average wholesale price until July, when it began paying them just 84 percent. While pharmacies weren't happy about the reimbursement reduction, the Department of Social and Health Services said that move was expected to save the state about $10 million.

Then in September came another blow. The average wholesale price is calculated by a private company, which was accused in a Massachusetts lawsuit of fraudulently inflating its figures. The company did not admit wrongdoing but agreed in a court settlement to ratchet its figures down by about 4 percent.

That agreement took effect in September — and prompted a lawsuit by a group of pharmacies and trade associations that said Washington state didn't follow federal law in setting its reimbursement rate, and that that rate is too low. The lawsuit is pending.

"Washington state Medicaid is now reimbursing pharmacies less than their cost of participation," said Jeff Rochon, CEO of the Washington State Pharmacy Association.

Pharmacies that continue to fill Medicaid prescriptions at the current state reimbursement rate are "at risk of putting themselves out of business altogether," he said.

Information from Seattle Times archives was used in this report.
Link (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2011367936_walgreens18m.html)

[BigBadBrian]

OK, Triple B comes clean:

I believe in Medicaid, I really do.

This article is one example why Republicans and Democrats need to work together for Health Care Reform instead of trying to score brownie points with the voters.

What are they going to do, make an independent corporation take certain insurance from certain customers?

[hideyoursheep]

This article is one example why Republicans and Democrats need to work together for Health Care Reform instead of trying to score brownie points with the voters.

This Reform bill won't score points with anyone with half a brain.

Half-assed reform isn't reform, it's half-assed.

How does Hillary feel about this bill? Does it bear any resemblance to her blueprint for healthcare reform?

I imagine not.

If she were elected, her plan would have been hacked to pieces as well.


Fucking politicians..:mad:..Comp them and get a golden parachute in return.

WE pay their inflated salaries with OUR money, and they listen to the highest bidder.

[hideyoursheep]

....in addition, there are some doctors' offices that refuse to take any new patients, but it had nothing to do with medicare or any of that, so that's really nothing new.

[ELVIS]

Medicaid and Medicare are two entirely different things...

[Nitro Express]

What I find pathetic is certain politicians are using the crises of skyrocketing healthcare prices and using the citizens concern as leverage to ram through legislation which isn't reform at all. What they are trying to pass is a scam where the government will force you to pay the corporations who are partly responsible for the problem in the first place. So what will happen is companies will just pay the government fine because it's cheaper than the insurance and someone will pocket a lot of money and nobody will have coverage. Plus, it put non elected beurocrats in charge of the whole system.

Obamacare is NOT socialized medicine at all, if people think it is they are mistaken.

[sadaist]

Obamacare is NOT socialized medicine at all, if people think it is they are mistaken.


Not at is is currently written. But Obama himself, and many other Democrats have clearly stated this is just to open the door. Their ultimate goal being exactly that.

[Nitro Express]

What we need is price regulation. When prices skyrocket way past what the global market rate for a product or service is, you clearly have a monopoly situation. So there needs to be some price regulation like we have on utility companies. Also tort reform to keep fraudulent lawsuits at bay. We don't need to take the system over, we just need price caps, because Americans are being price gouged on drugs and insurance.

Compare the healthcare industry with the high tech industry. Both have substantial R&D but the high tech industry gives us better products each year for less money. The healthcare industry jack the prices up and give us less. Last I checked Intel, Microsoft, and Apple were doing just fine and they don't screw the customer like healthcare does. Someone is making huge profit margins.

[Nitro Express]

Not at is is currently written. But Obama himself, and many other Democrats have clearly stated this is just to open the door. Their ultimate goal being exactly that.

Ha! ha! ha! Yeah right. They just want to sign it into law and then they have what they want. Power and control. If they really wanted to reform it, they would systematically pick problem areas to deal with. They just want to take the whole system over and not regulate a thing.

Whenever lawmakers are in a big hurry to pass something and they vote over weekends and holidays, the result is never good. Hurry and weekend voting got us the Federal Reserve Act and into a war in Iraq. If the politicians are in a desperate hurry someone behind the scenes is bribing them enough to really motivate them.

I'm afraid no real reform is going to happen with the current bunch in Washington. They are too corrupt.

[Nitro Express]

The last time the president was in a hurry it was about getting those weapons of mass destruction. Remember that? Now the current president is in a mad crazy hurry to sign anything into law. If he really cares, pick one problem. Let's say overpriced pharmacuticals. But of course he's not going to do that, they are big contributors to his campaign fund.

[Nitro Express]

Oh. Let's not forget the bankers bailout. Hurry, hurry, hurry! The sky is falling, we need to do something! Then billions go off shore and they won't tell us where our tax money went. Nice.

[FORD]

This Reform bill won't score points with anyone with half a brain.

Half-assed reform isn't reform, it's half-assed.

How does Hillary feel about this bill? Does it bear any resemblance to her blueprint for healthcare reform?

I imagine not.

If she were elected, her plan would have been hacked to pieces as well.


Hillary's 2008 campaign plan started with corporate mandates. It probably would have been far worse in the end.

They should have never let the Senate Finance committee have anything to do with a health care bill. It was the pigfuckers like Baucus and Conrad who doomed this from the minute they touched it. :(

[Nitro Express]

Hillary's 2008 campaign plan started with corporate mandates. It probably would have been far worse in the end.

They should have never let the Senate Finance committee have anything to do with a health care bill. It was the pigfuckers like Baucus and Conrad who doomed this from the minute they touched it. :(

Nothing of substance comes from pig fucking so we need to get rid of the pig fuckers. I'm afraid we are going to have a half-term with a lame duck president with a bunch of newly elected Republicans stone walling him until 2012. The Republicans blew it with Bush and the Democrats blew it with Obama and Pelosi. Frankly I don't trust either camp. Both are corrupt.

[Kristy]

....in addition, there are some doctors' offices that refuse to take any new patients, but it had nothing to do with medicare or any of that, so that's really nothing new.

Yeah, comes down to two things: money and insurance fraud. Doctors won't touch a patient who they consider to be a liability risk to them if they know they go to several clinics looking for medical care only to file a suit against them later on for what the patient considers to be inadequate treatment.This is why they ask for I.D. prior to them seeing you so they can run a background check And there is no way a doctor will even give you a head nod for treatment if you walked into a emergency room with a severed limb unless you had an insurance carrier or several greenbacks in hand.

The days of altruistic medicine are long over. I can understand physicians wanting to protect their ass from libel suits with the outrageous malpractice fees they pay when a suit can be brought before them for anything but to refuse the sick, the desperate and under or non-insured at all disgust me. Health care in this country is going to turn into a divided social structure of the haves and the totally fucked if the insurance corporations and the politicians they bought have placed in their back pocket keep on running it into the ground. This is why all the teabaggers and their unfounded paranoia of government control of health care piss me off. The whole system needs to gutted and revamped from both sides otherwise this might be a good time to go cynical and start investing into the funeral business for the mortality rate in this country is going to soar for those who can't afford to see a physician.

[Nitro Express]

Medicade and medicare also result in a HUGE amount of paperwork. I have to use respiratory equipment and my medical supplier has a staff of six people just to deal with the insurance paperwork for their pharmacy and medical equipment business. The cost of dealing with insurance paperwork in your average medical office is 20-30% of the overhead.

I can see businesses dropping Medicare and Medicade to save on the office expense of dealing with all the paperwork both generate. In fact some medical clinics have gone to a cash basis only. They don't accept any insurance and you have to pay in cash. They are price competative because by getting rid of the insurance they just cut 20-30% of their overhead and can pass the savings onto the customer.

[Nitro Express]

The problem with gutting the system is washington is full of corrupt lawyers. Basically you take the system out of the hands of corporate lawyers and put it in the hands of corporate lawyers who work for the government. Nothing is going to change because the corporations have infiltrated Washington DC. We won't have any real reform until the lawmakers actually answer the voters instead of their corporate campaign contributors.

Basically they have been screwing us for a long time and got used to screwing us with nobody caring that much. When the public could get easy loans and had visions of getting rich overnight on .coms and real estate, nobody was watching Washington DC and nobody cared. The 90's and 00's were a drunken orgy of credit fueled excess. Now the handover has began and people are starting to watch Washington again. The politicians however are still drunk and licking each other's private parts. Maybe their hangover will start this November.

[Nitro Express]

If things get bad enough where people are dropping dead all over from a lack of healthcare, altruistic medicine will come back in the form of a black market. By that time each little group with have it's own medicine. The Mormon doctors will help the Mormons, the Jewish doctors will help the Jews, the hispanics doctors with help the hispanics. The melting pot will become divided again if the Federal government becomes so fucked it can function. The death nail could be the Federal Reserve system going broke after it hyper inflates it's dollars. Once the Feds lose their money making machine, they become just another broke state and they lose their power to buy people off and influence them. Then it truly becomes a free for all. The country will break apart with each little group taking care of their own. We might be on the tip of the US actually breaking apart if the current trend continues in Washington because people want real change and it's not happening.

It all boils down to trust and groups of people who can trust each other end up ruling the world. Groups who don't end up destroying themselves.

[Nickdfresh]

Not at is is currently written. But Obama himself, and many other Democrats have clearly stated this is just to open the door. Their ultimate goal being exactly that.

You don't know what "socialized medicine" is. Mainly, it doesn't really exist. Even the Canadian system isn't "socialized medicine," it's more like socialized insurance--which I'm all in favor for because their shouldn't be a profit motive in decisions regarding peoples' health...

[Nitro Express]

You don't know what "socialized medicine" is. Mainly, it doesn't really exist. Even the Canadian system isn't "socialized medicine," it's more like socialized insurance--which I'm all in favor for because their shouldn't be a profit motive in decisions regarding peoples' health...

I guess doctors and nurses should work for free then. I have no problem with people making a profit. We've had for profit healthcare for a long time and until the last 25 years, it worked pretty good. Now we are being price gouged and that's the problem. I can remember when health insurance was just another cost of living. In the 1980's I paid my insurance premiums and never thought twice about it because it was affordable then.

[FORD]

The only thing remotely resembling "socialized medicine" in this country would be the VA system. They have their own hospitals and all the doctors and nurses are VA employees.

That's not what is being proposed, by ANYBODY. A single payer system would make government the only insurer but it would not have any effect on any medical institutions (hospitals, clinics, etc. Apart from removing a shit load of paper work hassle from them, of course)

The current corporatist bill before Congress is the opposite of "socialism". It's actually fascism under the Mussolini definition (and that's the Italian guy, not the Alaskan dumb cunt) Government mandates you to pay a corporation.

[hideyoursheep]

Medicade and medicare also result in a HUGE amount of paperwork. .

I don't know about any of that, but if you can electronically send messages, file taxes, buy shit off of EBay etc., these muthafhukkas haven't figured out how to save a tree?:headlights:

[hideyoursheep]

Yeah, comes down to two things: money and insurance fraud. Doctors won't touch a patient who they consider to be a liability risk to them if they know they go to several clinics looking for medical care only to file a suit against them later on for what the patient considers to be inadequate treatment.This is why they ask for I.D. prior to them seeing you so they can run a background check And there is no way a doctor will even give you a head nod for treatment if you walked into a emergency room with a severed limb unless you had an insurance carrier or several greenbacks in hand.

Actually, I think it might have to do with having too many patients, and not enough tee time.

I mean, when was the last time you went to your appointment on time, and the fucking doctor was on time?

For me, it was the eye doctor....yeah...I need glasses now...fuck...

[Blackflag]

Yeah, comes down to two things: money and insurance fraud. Doctors won't touch a patient who they consider to be a liability risk to them if they know they go to several clinics looking for medical care only to file a suit against them later on for what the patient considers to be inadequate treatment.This is why they ask for I.D. prior to them seeing you so they can run a background check And there is no way a doctor will even give you a head nod for treatment if you walked into a emergency room with a severed limb unless you had an insurance carrier or several greenbacks in hand.

The days of altruistic medicine are long over. I can understand physicians wanting to protect their ass from libel suits with the outrageous malpractice fees they pay when a suit can be brought before them for anything but to refuse the sick, the desperate and under or non-insured at all disgust me. Health care in this country is going to turn into a divided social structure of the haves and the totally fucked if the insurance corporations and the politicians they bought have placed in their back pocket keep on running it into the ground. This is why all the teabaggers and their unfounded paranoia of government control of health care piss me off. The whole system needs to gutted and revamped from both sides otherwise this might be a good time to go cynical and start investing into the funeral business for the mortality rate in this country is going to soar for those who can't afford to see a physician.

That doctor is a man. And that man can choose to deal with you or not, and he is free to work at any rate he'd like. If my car breaks down, and some dickhead mechanic will fix my car for more than I can afford - I guess I'm walking. Because I don't expect anybody to force the mechanic to fix my car, or pay the repair bill for me. If you want "altruism," go to church.

And everybody has to be on the lookout for "libel suits" at the rate I'm using the word "cunt" these days. :biggrin:

[Nickdfresh]

I guess doctors and nurses should work for free then. I have no problem with people making a profit. We've had for profit healthcare for a long time and until the last 25 years....

Which part of my post didn't you understand? I said the medical side should (like in Canada) SHOULD be for profit. I said INSURANCE should be strictly controlled by the goverB'erment...

Learn to read, been-everywhere-and-done-everything....

[Nickdfresh]

That doctor is a man. And that man can choose to deal with you or not, and he is free to work at any rate he'd like.

Right. If he doesn't like the rate, then quit and sell insurance or something...


If my car breaks down, and some dickhead mechanic will fix my car for more than I can afford - I guess I'm walking. Because I don't expect anybody to force the mechanic to fix my car, or pay the repair bill for me. If you want "altruism," go to church.

No one asked you to own a car, dummy. You didn't have a choice on being born...


And everybody has to be on the lookout for "libel suits" at the rate I'm using the word "cunt" these days. :biggrin:

Well, you can't sue yourself. can you?

[Nitro Express]

Actually, I think it might have to do with having too many patients, and not enough tee time.

I mean, when was the last time you went to your appointment on time, and the fucking doctor was on time?

For me, it was the eye doctor....yeah...I need glasses now...fuck...

The last time I went to the doctor he fondled my balls and stuck his finger up my ass. I stopped going. Then I keep getting notices he wants to see me again. Doctors are perverts.

[Blackflag]

Right. If he doesn't like the rate, then quit and sell insurance or something...

I think that's right, actually. I think if you regulate the insurance prices so that the market can set a fair price, then he can either take it or leave it. They'll either take a good, profitable salary, or we'll all die.

But forcing people to buy private insurance, and making the government pay for private insurance if you can't - that just has the opposite effect. It incentivizes companies to raise their rates. Fucking ridiculous.




No one asked you to own a car, dummy. You didn't have a choice on being born...

Because I was born, you're responsible for me? How heartwarming. (And bullshit.)




Well, you can't sue yourself. can you?

If I could, I'd be balls-out rich by now. I would've sued the fuck out of myself until it hurt.

(I was making fun of her use of libel. I think she meant malpractice.)

[Blackflag]

The last time I went to the doctor he fondled my balls and stuck his finger up my ass. I stopped going. Then I keep getting notices he wants to see me again. Doctors are perverts.

:headlights:

:confused12:

"Do you like gladiator movies, Nitro?"

[PETE'S BROTHER]

That doctor is a man. And that man can choose to deal with you or not, and he is free to work at any rate he'd like. If my car breaks down, and some dickhead mechanic will fix my car for more than I can afford - I guess I'm walking. Because I don't expect anybody to force the mechanic to fix my car, or pay the repair bill for me. If you want "altruism," go to church.

And everybody has to be on the lookout for "libel suits" at the rate I'm using the word "cunt" these days. :biggrin:

your car breakin' down ain't gonna kill ya and leave your family alone.:umm:

[Blackflag]

So what?

[Nickdfresh]

I think that's right, actually. I think if you regulate the insurance prices so that the market can set a fair price, then he can either take it or leave it. They'll either take a good, profitable salary, or we'll all die.

But forcing people to buy private insurance, and making the government pay for private insurance if you can't - that just has the opposite effect. It incentivizes companies to raise their rates. Fucking ridiculous.

Actually, the gov't is preventing insurance to selectively cull their market down to the select as well. There are certain points of this bill I disagree with though. And that's one of them. I think there should be a public option...


Because I was born, you're responsible for me? How heartwarming. (And bullshit.)

Right, so we should be able to do infanticide?


If I could, I'd be balls-out rich by now. I would've sued the fuck out of myself until it hurt.

I don't think you can sue yourself for being gay... :)


(I was making fun of her use of libel. I think she meant malpractice.)

I'll check into it later...

[Blackflag]

Actually, the gov't is preventing insurance to selectively cull their market down to the select as well. There are certain points of this bill I disagree with though. And that's one of them. I think there should be a public option...

While simultaneously saying people have to pay whatever rates the insurance companies demand. And the government will cover their rates if someone can't afford it. This is nothing but a cash giveaway to the insurance companies. Wake the fuck up. This has nothing to do with making insurance more affordable.




Right, so we should be able to do infanticide?

Yep, that's exactly what I said. You're really honing your skills, young padowan.




I don't think you can sue yourself for being gay... :)

No, but I think you can still be charged for buttsecks in Texas. So stay away from Texas, Nick.




I'll check into it later...

You do that.

[PETE'S BROTHER]

So what?

well shit. if you're havin' a cancerous legion eating your dick away and the "mechanic" charges more than you could ever pay, then "oh well" i'll just walk. until i die from my dick fallin' off? that's just not realistic.

[Blackflag]

well shit. if you're havin' a cancerous legion eating your dick away and the "mechanic" charges more than you could ever pay, then "oh well" i'll just walk. until i die from my dick fallin' off? that's just not realistic.

That's life, bro.

And you're suggesting what? That because someone chose that profession, they should be compelled to work on whoever comes through the door, like a slave? Just accept whatever you can afford? Take a government mandated salary?

That's one way to make everybody choose a different career.

[Nickdfresh]

While simultaneously saying people have to pay whatever rates the insurance companies demand. And the government will cover their rates if someone can't afford it. This is nothing but a cash giveaway to the insurance companies. Wake the fuck up. This has nothing to do with making insurance more affordable.

Except it is forcing insurance companies to cover everyone who wants to be covered. And not drop the small businesses they've been dropping recently by absurdly skyrocketing their rates beyond inflation...


Yep, that's exactly what I said. You're really honing your skills, young padowan.

Which blood type tastes best, master?


No, but I think you can still be charged for buttsecks in Texas. So stay away from Texas, Nick.

Well, where is it legal? oh expert on buttsex?


You do that.

'Kay I will. Remind me if I forget, and you're not having too much buttsex to remember...

[Blackflag]

Except it is forcing insurance companies to cover everyone who wants to be covered. And not drop the small businesses they've been dropping recently by absurdly skyrocketing their rates beyond inflation...

And they'll raise their rates accordingly. Send the bill to the government if somebody can't afford it, I guess.




Which blood type tastes best, master?

You're not familiar with sarcasm, are you?





Well, where is it legal? oh expert on buttsex?

Is this a trick question? Are you looking for an opportunity to tell me about your basement dungeon?




'Kay I will. Remind me if I forget, and you're not having too much buttsex to remember...

Just ask Kristy.

[Angel]

Which part of my post didn't you understand? I said the medical side should (like in Canada) SHOULD be for profit. I said INSURANCE should be strictly controlled by the goverB'erment...

Learn to read, been-everywhere-and-done-everything....

Ummmm, Nick. You've got things backwards, we don't have any for profit on the medical side. The insurance is strictly controlled by the gubmint.

[Nickdfresh]

And they'll raise their rates accordingly. Send the bill to the government if somebody can't afford it, I guess.


I'm not positive, but I believe their rates will be regulated in exchange for the boost in revenue from the younger, healthier people being pressured to get insurance. It becomes a more even spread...


You're not familiar with sarcasm, are you?

Yes. I was introduced to her by Mr. Irony...


[Is this a trick question? Are you looking for an opportunity to tell me about your basement dungeon?

Nobody kills anyone here but me an Jed...


Just ask Kristy.

Why? Do you tell her your gay powerbottom stories?

[Blackflag]

I'm not positive, but I believe their rates will be regulated

No - you mean you hope the insurance companies will do the right thing. Nothing is being "regulated."

Which is a fair assumption, considering how they have good track record for doing the right thing. :umm:




Yes. I was introduced to her by Mr. Irony...

And was it this Mr. Irony that introduced you to buttsecks?




Nobody kills anyone here but me an Jed...

Don't make me go get some brothers with a blow torch.




Why? Do you tell her your gay powerbottom stories?

No. She kept asking about them, but I don't kiss and tell.

[Nickdfresh]

No - you mean you hope the insurance companies will do the right thing. Nothing is being "regulated."

Which is a fair assumption, considering how they have good track record for doing the right thing. :umm:



Oh right! I forgot that insurance companies can do whatever they want. Pray your agent doesn't come over to rape you wife or daughter....


And was it this Mr. Irony that introduced you to buttsecks?

No. But you seem to really be fascinated with him....


Don't make me go get some brothers with a blow torch.

Ha!


No. She kept asking about them, but I don't kiss and tell.

I wouldn't admit to that, either...