Content about Congress

ALEXANDRIA, Va. The National Community Pharmacists Association is urging the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to follow guidance that Congress included in the healthcare-reform law in its implementation of a new Medicaid generic drug reimbursement formula based on average manufacturer price, the organization said Tuesday.

CMS recently withdrew provisions that would have dramatically cut Medicaid pharmacy reimbursement to community pharmacies from a previously proposed AMP rule due to an injunction that the NCPA obtained in 2007.

As I write this column, it’s the final Super Tuesday primaries in eight states, including here in New York, before the big mid-term elections in November. And if the Sunday morning news shows are right, the Democrats are in for a spanking. Given the present state of the economy, the stagnant job market and the American electorate’s need to find someone to blame, it’s really kind of inevitable.

ARLINGTON, Va. As members of Congress move to try and force China to revalue its currency, the renminbi yuan, retailers are weighing in on the issue.

The Retail Industry Leaders Association, which represents more than 200 retailers, manufacturers and suppliers, asked lawmakers Friday to reject legislation under consideration Friday morning by the House Ways and Means Committee that would pressure China on its currency by imposing tariffs on products imported from there.

GLASGOW, Ky. Amneal Pharmaceuticals will have a grand opening of its newly expanded distribution and sales center next week, the generic drug maker said Monday.

Amneal announced the grand opening of the center in Glasgow, Ky., set to take place Monday. Representatives from the municipal and state governments, the Tennessee Valley Authority, state legislators and possibly members of Congress are expected to attend.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT This week’s decision by the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals could make political efforts to ban generic-branded patent settlements a lot more difficult.

(THE NEWS: Appeals court upholds decision to OK 'pay-for-delay' deals. For the full story, click here)

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT In these times of trillion-dollar spending bills and massive deficits, $16 billion may not seem like all that much. But it’s enough to throw another critical lifeline to states coping with the ever-rising costs of Medicaid health assistance to the poor and unemployed –– and to thousands of community pharmacies that have to provide prescription services to those millions of Americans.

McLEAN, Va. The Council for Responsible Nutrition’s president and CEO Steve Mister supplied the “opposing view” to a USA Today opinion piece published online Thursday regarding a recent Consumer Reports attack on the dietary supplement industry.

ORLANDO, Fla. The third annual Retail Clinician Education Congress kicked off here Monday, attracting nearly 500 nurse practitioners for the two-and-a-half-day live continuing education conference for retail-based healthcare providers. Hosted by Retail Clinician magazine in conjunction with the Convenient Care Association, RCEC 2010 convened in line with the start of National Convenient Care Clinic Week, which became official last week when Sens. Dan Inouye, D-Hawaii, and Thad Cochran, D-Miss., introduced a Senate resolution.