Special Thanks to Tobey Schule and Timothy Tucker

Thanks to Tobey Schule, RPh, co-owner of Sykes Drug in Kalispell, and Timothy Tucker, PharmD, American Pharmacy Association President-Elect, the voice of pharmacy was heard in Congress on May 2nd before the Committee on Finance, United States Senate. Tobey did a wonderful job of speaking first hand on the impact that Medicare D has had on Sykes Drug, as well as the impact it has had on his patients. Tobey shared his concerns for his patient’s welfare if Medicare were to continue on the course it has with slow reimbursement, PBM formulary mandates and changes, donut-hole catastrophes, forcing of mail order by PBMs, and the overwhelming control of the PBMs on patient care. In addition, Tobey also gave statements for Medication Therapy Management (MTM) to be done face to face through pharmacist-patient pharmaceutical care and the need to recognize pharmacists as providers. Please read Tobey’s very compelling and very heart felt testimony. Thank you Tobey…we couldn’t have had a better representative. Please read Tobey’s May 2, 2007 testimony, which is also posted on the Montana Pharmacy Association Website along with Timothy Tucker's testimony.

In addition, you may read for your enjoyment Tobey’s February 2006 statement to Congress, as well as the Missoula Independent Record’s comments on the May 2nd hearing posted May 17, 2007.

Second, please read through Timothy Tuckers testimony to the Senate Committee on Finance on May 2nd about the impact on pharmacy as a whole with the results from several surveys conducted by the American Pharmacy Association in 2006. Timothy discusses a multitude of important topics with corrective suggestions including: unfair “negotiations” pertaining to the antitrust law, slow and low reimbursement from PBMs, electronic funds transfers, Plan-to-Plan Claim Reconciliation, formulary management, importance of patient pharmacist MTM, enrollment and eligibility, as well as operational issues. Thank you Timothy and APhA for addressing these issues and providing solutions…strong work!!!

Thanks to both Tobey and Timothy, the voice of pharmacy was heard collectively about the same issues and its dramatic effects on pharmacy today. Let’s show our appreciation by simply telling them Thank You!!! I will post your thank you and comments on GrizRPh.com so they may see them. I will post the letter in “In The Spotlight” section of GrizRPh.com. CLICK HERE to sign or leave your message. Thank You!!!


Sincerely,

Eric Shields, PharmD
GrizRPh.com