Last year, legislation was passed that required Florida state employees and retirees to get their maintenance medications through CVS/Caremark's mail-order program. My customers - my patients - are allowed to obtain three prescription fills at my independent pharmacy in Tampa. After their third fill, they receive a letter that informs them they have to use CVS/Caremark for any additional fills.
Legislators claim this saves the state money; however, there is no data that supports the claim that mail-order pharmacy programs are less costly than having prescriptions filled at local pharmacies like mine. In fact, it will likely cost Florida more money from drug waste due to the frequent medication changes my patients experience, unreliable delivery with mail order, non-compliance with their medications and a decrease in local sales tax revenue.
Dan Fucarino
Tampa
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