Pharmacists alarmed over managed-care Medicaid

February 11, 2012 9:24 PM – By ALLEN ESSEX/The Brownsville Herald

Rio Grande Valley pharmacists say a move to a managed-care health system in the Texas Medicaid program will have a devastating impact on patients and small businesses.

Changes will begin March 1, but many health-care providers still have a lot of unanswered questions, pharmacists said.

Rather than pharmacies providing prescription drugs directly to low-income patients, persons in the Medicaid program will have to get prescriptions filled through a managed-care company, members of the Rio Grande Valley Independent Pharmacy Association said Friday.

“On March 1, pharmacists are going to take the worst hit of any profession that deals with Medicaid,” said Nario Cantu, whose family owns Cantu’s Pharmacy in Edinburg and Pharr.

Representatives of pharmacies, nursing homes, doctors’ offices, hospitals and clinics or anyone who may be a provider of services to the Medicaid program attended a program Friday at Marine Military Academy in Harlingen to learn about the coming changes. Read Full Article