PHARMACIST STEVE

Medicare Advantage star ratings decline: 5 things to know https://www.beckerspayer.com/payer/medicare-advantage-star-ratings-decline-5-things-to-know.html Average Medicare Advantage star ratings declined for the third year in a row, according to CMS data published Oct. 10.  The average Medicare Advantage star rating for 2025 is 3.92, down from 4.07 in 2024.  Plans must earn a rating of 4 or higher to […]

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NCPA: Drug price negotiations will fail without fair and timely pharmacy reimbursement https://ncpa.org/newsroom/qam/2024/10/07/ncpa-drug-price-negotiations-will-fail-without-fair-and-timely-pharmacy ALEXANDRIA, Va. (Oct. 3, 2024) – The National Community Pharmacists Association today warned that President Biden’s plan to negotiate drug prices in Medicare will fail and patient access to the first 10 negotiated drugs will be jeopardized beginning in 2026 because the […]

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Helene Poses Big Problems for Mail Service in Western NC https://www.theassemblync.com/politics/elections/mail-postal-service-ballots-medicine-hurricane-helene/ From medication to ballots, the U.S. Postal Service is a critical delivery method. Here’s what to know about the state of services following Hurricane Helene. In the days since Hurricane Helene made landfall in Western North Carolina, about 1.2 million people have lost their […]

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DEA Issues Warning About Illegal Online Pharmacies https://www.dea.gov/alert/dea-issues-warning-about-illegal-online-pharmacies October 4, 2024 – The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has seen an increase in illegal online pharmacies selling and shipping counterfeit pills made with fentanyl and methamphetamine to unsuspecting customers in the United States who believe they are purchasing real pharmaceutical drugs such as Oxycodone, Adderall, Xanax, […]

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How opioid prescriptions are tracked and monitored by law enforcement and health care providers https://whyy.org/segments/how-opioid-prescriptions-are-tracked-and-monitored-by-law-enforcement-and-health-care-providers/ Medical sociologist Liz Chiarello discusses the effects of prescription drug monitoring programs on both patients and physicians. Associate Professor of Sociology at Saint Louis University, Liz Chiarello, argues that new drug surveillance programs called Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs) blur […]

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More Deception from Express Scripts! https://pharmacistactivist.com/2024/September_2024.shtml The lead commentary in the August issue of The Pharmacist Activist was, “Express Scripts Attempts to Change its Identity,” that responds to its full-page advertisement in major newspapers. The PBM has followed that with another full-page ad that continues the deception and lies, but provides no transparency regarding its […]

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Doctors Cut Back on Seeing Medicare Patients as Another Pay Cut Looms Which – how many politicians – are saying that we all need a single healthcare insurance system? Thru the end of Aug, 2024 we have had abt 30 pharmacies closing their doors – for good – every day.  https://www.pharmaciststeve.com/2275-pharmacies-have-closed-so-far-in-2024/  So the PBMs are […]

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