The Honorable Joe Manchin, United States Senate
Dear Senator Manchin:
As Executive Director of the West Virginia Pharmacists Association, an association representing pharmacists throughout your state who provide vital pharmacy services and products to constituent patients, I respectfully request you support a letter crafted by Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Jon Tester (D-VT) to the Secretary of Health and Human Services urging the much-needed reform of Part D direct and indirect remuneration (DIR) fees before the deadline January 30.
Recently, CMS published the proposed rule, “Modernizing Part D and Medicare Advantage to Lower Drug Prices and Reduce Out-of-Pocket Expenses” where CMS suggests changing the application of pharmacy price concessions — also known as DIR fees — in the Medicare Part D program.
Reforming DIR fees will: (1) lead to lower co-pays for beneficiaries; (2) create needed value-based infrastructure to drive pharmacy quality and performance metrics in an efficient and impactful way; and (3) result in better financial line of sight and greater stability for small businesses, local, regional and national pharmacies across the country.
Senators Capito and Tester, who led a 2018 DIR reform letter supported by 19 other U.S. Senators to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, have crafted a follow-up letter to again express support for this policy to be finalized with the rule. As a supporter of the 2018 DIR reform letter, I urge you to review and consider supporting the 2019 Capito-Tester sign-on letter by accessing the below link:
http://www.nacds.org/pdfs/government/2019/senate-rule012219.pdf
To support the letter before the January 30 deadline, please contact Dana Richter at dana.richter@capito.senate.gov in Senator Capito’s office or Laura Peterson at laura_peterson@tester.senate.gov in Senator Tester’s office. Thank you for considering this Association’s request.
Richard Stevens, Executive Director
