In contrast to my comments in this morning's post, CMS just republished the NADAC and NARP data on its Survey of Retail Prices web page.
Here are direct links to the data files:
- Draft NARP File [ZIP]
- Draft NADAC File [ZIP]
Enjoy! You may want to download quickly, just in case they disappear again.
Emily Litella: "What is all this fuss I hear about MACs? Pharmacists are being ridiculous. Macs are so easy! Why, I never even used a computer until I got one. Why don't they like them? Are they against iPads, too?"
Im not exactly sure why a “cost-plus” model would be increasingly attractive. To your point, it would provide more stable profits, however, with NADAC/NARP now offering better transparency into pharmacy profit margins, what’s to stop public and private payors from correcting the “plus” part of “cost plus” reimbursement downward to ensure that average margins are lower than today’s averages with traditional reimbursement? My guess is that pharmacies would prefer to tolerate the volatility if it meant that average margins were markedly higher than “cost-plus” average margins. My point is, while AAC’s may be inflated and DF’s higher than marginal CODs in today’s market, doesn’t the new insight into pharmacy’s actual profits set the stage for payors to simply correct these overages?
ReplyDeleteIm not exactly sure why a “cost-plus” model would be increasingly attractive. To your point, it would provide more stable profits, however, with NADAC/NARP now offering better transparency into pharmacy profit margins, what’s to stop public and private payors from correcting the “plus” part of “cost plus” reimbursement downward to ensure that average margins are lower than today’s averages with traditional reimbursement? My guess is that pharmacies would prefer to tolerate the volatility if it meant that average margins were markedly higher than “cost-plus” average margins. My point is, while AAC’s may be inflated and DF’s higher than marginal CODs in today’s market, doesn’t the new insight into pharmacy’s actual profits set the stage for payors to simply correct these overages?
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