Register for our free PDS Conference ticket Holiday Drawing
The 11th Annual PDS Independent Pharmacy Business Growth Conference will take place at the Renaissance Marriott in Orlando, FL on February 18-21, and TRxADE will be on hand as a fully vetted vendor and recipient of the PDS stamp of approval.
Get conference and registration details/links here.
Conference tickets range from $225 to $300 for PDS members, and are $1,595 for non-members.
In the spirit of the holidays, TRxADE will be conducting a drawing for one free conference ticket ($1,595 value) for independent pharmacies that are NOT members of PDS and are available to attend the conference on February 18-21. Please note: travel and accommodations are the responsibility of the winner.
To be eligible for the drawing, you must register by December 31, 2014.
Good luck to you all!
Open enrollment for Medicare ends December 7th
As noted in my blog post from October 29, 5 Keys to Helping Your Patients during Medicare Open Enrollment, December 7th will be the last day of open enrollment for Medicare.
You still have time to be a valuable resource for your Medicare patients, and the help you offer could encourage those patients to choose a Medicare Part D plan that won’t punish them financially for continuing to choose your pharmacy.
Being pro-active is important, because popular resources are telling Medicare recipients that their costs will be higher if they choose a pharmacy that is not a member of a preferred network.
Here’s an example.
Q1Medicare.com offers extensive information about available Medicare prescription plans and formularies. If you want to see your states 2015 Medicare Part D Plan Information Options, you click a link and all the plans are listed – but they only show the costs of using preferred pharmacies (which they list).
When a plan includes both “Preferred” and “Non-Preferred” pharmacies, there is a warning to consumers – “Non-preferred network pharmacies have higher cost-sharing.” You can then click for details of the price differences. In many cases, those cost differences are negligible, but will your patients even get that far?
Offer them your help while you still can.
Open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act ends February 15th
Millions of people will be enrolling on federal and state healthcare exchanges between now and February 15th. Those who need coverage that begins on January 1st need to enroll by December 15th.
CVS, Rite Aid, and Walgreens are among the many organizations offering free consulting to people in search of health insurance. But independent pharmacies have not been left in the lurch. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has partnered with NCPA to educate consumers about insurance coverage.
Through NCPA, HHS has hosted a call with community pharmacists to provide information on the ACA. Beyond that call, NCPA is acting as a vehicle to provide community pharmacies across the country materials and information on open enrollment, so the community pharmacies can educate their customers and community.
If your pharmacy is an NCPA member and you want information about how you can offer your patients help with ACA enrollment, contact NCPA.
In case you missed it
Many readers to the blog come here from my weekly emails. Last week’s email experienced some delivery problems, so for those of you who didn’t see it, you might want to check out last week’s blog post, Update: Senate & Justice Dept. Investigate Generic Drug Prices [Video].
The panel for the Senate hearing that addressed the question “Why Are Some Generic Drugs Skyrocketing In Price?” included independent pharmacy owner Robert Frankil. Take a look.
With drug prices rising and preferred pharmacy networks receiving special treatment, it’s no wonder so many independent pharmacies are making a point of saving money on TRxADE.