N.D. Survey Says Insurers Slow to Pay for Medicare Prescriptions

North Dakota pharmacists say they have been forced to borrow money because insurers are slow to pay the bills under a new Medicare prescription drug program.

Nearly one in five pharmacists was forced to borrow money and many others had to dip into their financial reserves to stay afloat during the rollout of the new benefit, which took effect Jan. 1, a survey by the North Dakota Pharmacists Association found.

The association said 52 pharmacists responded to the survey, a response rate of almost 30 percent. It was compiled last week at the request of state Insurance Commissioner Jim Poolman.

One pharmacist and junior partner in a drugstore in New Rockford, said the cash flow plunged by $35,000 during January, after almost a third of his customers switched from Medicaid to Medicare drug coverage under the new program. Because the senior partner is well-established, the store was not forced to go to the bank, as some were.

Pharmacists, God bless ’em, are filling the scripts in the hope they’ll get paid later, Poolman commented.

The survey of pharmacists also found the list of covered drugs changed for many Medicare customers.

Dave Olig, the pharmacist-owner of two clinic-based pharmacies in south Fargo, said the original drug lists might have been designed to lure customers who sign up for a year of coverage.

Olig flew to Washington earlier this week and spoke to the Democratic Senate Policy Committee, chaired by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., to talk about problems of the new Medicare drug program.

Dorgan and Poolman agree the program must be changed.

Poolman, who said his office has been swamped by complaints, asked for the survey so he would have more than anecdotal evidence. As a state official, he has no regulatory authority to fix problems in the federal Medicare program.

Pharmacists said the worst period came in the first weeks of the new drug program, and they worry about another wave of confused customers and delayed payments in April as seniors try to beat the May 15 enrollment deadline.