PBMs suggest ways to cut Medicare drug abuse

{mosads}”While it is difficult to stop abusers from ‘doctor shopping’ for prescriptions among hundreds of thousands of prescribes, it is much easier to keep them from gaining physical custody of narcotics,” wrote PCMA President Mark Merritt.

The letter suggests creating “safe pharmacies” in Medicare Part D that will be permitted to distribute controlled substances to high-risk patients.

PCMA also urged lawmakers to require drugstores and pharmacists to register with state prescription drug monitoring programs, and to empower Medicare to crack down on fraud in Part D the way it does in Parts A and B.

Last month, the House passed a bill to establish a national system for tracing pharmaceuticals from the manufacturer to the pharmacy — another priority on PCMA’s list.