Apply Valley Mayor and pharmacist Curt Emick commented on Anthem Blue Cross’ recent attempt to force patients who were being treated for HIV/AIDs to fill their prescriptions via mail order in a recent article that appeared in Fox & Hounds. Anthem’s mandatory mail order decision was only reversed after much public outcry and inquiries into their plans by California state officials.

Emick discussed his role as a critical aspect of ensuring that these high-risk patients manage their conditions: “My role is to educate patients about the medications they are taking, and to counsel them to ensure they get the most benefit from their medications. My patients benefit tremendously from this relationship. They find comfort in knowing that I am monitoring their health needs and advising them about this important aspect of their care. I am also able to offer them other opportunities to improve their health, such as getting a flu shot onsite, or notifying their physician if their medication needs to be adjusted. But this type of face-to-face, one-on-one contact will be lost under a mandatory mail-order scheme.”

He goes on to point out that Anthem’s mandatory mail order scheme was at it’s heart, a fundamentally unfair business practice. “A health plan, in this case, Anthem, hires a pharmacy benefits manager (PBM), in this case, Express Scripts, to administer its pharmacy program. The plan then requires that beneficiaries obtain their prescription medications exclusively from a mail-order facility, in this case CuraScript, which (surprise!) is owned by Express Scripts. Patients have no choice in the matter and other pharmacies, including chain and independent drug stores, cannot compete for their business. Patients cannot “vote with their feet” if they are getting poor service from the mail-order company by choosing another pharmacy.”

In his conclusion, Curick urges the California state legislature to act now to prevent companies like Anthem from forcing patients into using mandatory mail order services. “If Anthem or other companies were to be successful in mandating the use of mail-order pharmacies, the end result will be patients having fewer choices about their care and their health could suffer if they lose access to their local pharmacy.”

For more information about the importance of pharmacy choice, visit Pharmacy Choice and Access Now today!