Specialty Pharmacy Mandates Hurt Patients
Specialty pharmacy mandates create administrative burdens on providers and pose serious risks to patients. Healthcare providers should be focused on providing the best care for their patients, but a specialty pharmacy mandate makes that task an increasingly difficult, often insurmountable one. A specialty pharmacy mandate will impact your healthcare provider's ability to treat you in the office, which could impact your ability to effectively manage your disease. If you are concerned about BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee’s specialty pharmacy mandate and how it negatively impacts your access to care, we encourage you to send a letter sharing your concerns.
The following template is a general letter, but we encourage you to customize it. Sharing your story and/or explaining how this will directly affect your treatment plan will help your letter have a greater impact. Below are some talking points you can incorporate to customize your letter.
Talking Points for Patients:
A specialty mandate could force patients to find new sites of care, often the hospital, because their healthcare provider can no longer treat them. This transition can bring stress and additional financial burdens on patients.
- A specialty pharmacy mandate drastically reduces the reimbursement paid to your healthcare providers, which jeopardizes their ability to treat patients. If a provider is no longer able to treat you, they will have to refer you to an alternate site of care, often a hospital, for treatment. Changing sites of care could delay your treatment or make your treatment more expensive.
Receiving the right medication at the right time is imperative to the success of the treatment and delays can cause poor health outcomes.
- Specialty pharmacies can present issues relating to drug quantities or volume, and drug wastage. Healthcare provider offices can sometimes receive different quantities than what is ordered or experience shipping delays, which could delay your treatment, causing serious health implications.
Healthcare provider offices are dedicated to minimizing your cost of care.
- Healthcare provider offices assist their patients in navigating alternate payment options such as copay assistance cards and manufacturer coupons. Specialty pharmacies may not be as diligent with applying financial assistance, resulting in your treatments becoming unaffordable.
Have you, your office, or your patient been affected by a specialty pharmacy mandate? Email your story to advocacy@infusioncenter.org.
The National Infusion Center Association partnered with the National Organization of Rheumatology Managers (NORM) to author a letter of concern to BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee in December 2019. To view our letter, visit infusioncenter.org/BCBSTN2019.
Specialty Pharmacy Mandates Hurt Patients
Specialty pharmacy mandates create administrative burdens on providers and pose serious risks to patients. Healthcare providers should be focused on providing the best care for their patients, but a specialty pharmacy mandate makes that task an increasingly difficult, often insurmountable one. A specialty pharmacy mandate will impact your healthcare provider's ability to treat you in the office, which could impact your ability to effectively manage your disease. If you are concerned about BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee’s specialty pharmacy mandate and how it negatively impacts your access to care, we encourage you to send a letter sharing your concerns.
The following template is a general letter, but we encourage you to customize it. Sharing your story and/or explaining how this will directly affect your treatment plan will help your letter have a greater impact. Below are some talking points you can incorporate to customize your letter.
Talking Points for Patients:
A specialty mandate could force patients to find new sites of care, often the hospital, because their healthcare provider can no longer treat them. This transition can bring stress and additional financial burdens on patients.
- A specialty pharmacy mandate drastically reduces the reimbursement paid to your healthcare providers, which jeopardizes their ability to treat patients. If a provider is no longer able to treat you, they will have to refer you to an alternate site of care, often a hospital, for treatment. Changing sites of care could delay your treatment or make your treatment more expensive.
Receiving the right medication at the right time is imperative to the success of the treatment and delays can cause poor health outcomes.
- Specialty pharmacies can present issues relating to drug quantities or volume, and drug wastage. Healthcare provider offices can sometimes receive different quantities than what is ordered or experience shipping delays, which could delay your treatment, causing serious health implications.
Healthcare provider offices are dedicated to minimizing your cost of care.
- Healthcare provider offices assist their patients in navigating alternate payment options such as copay assistance cards and manufacturer coupons. Specialty pharmacies may not be as diligent with applying financial assistance, resulting in your treatments becoming unaffordable.
Have you, your office, or your patient been affected by a specialty pharmacy mandate? Email your story to advocacy@infusioncenter.org.
The National Infusion Center Association partnered with the National Organization of Rheumatology Managers (NORM) to author a letter of concern to BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee in December 2019. To view our letter, visit infusioncenter.org/BCBSTN2019.