Call Your Senators and Ask Them to Sign the Specter-Casey-Brown-Stabenow ASP Prompt Pay Discount Letter

Senators Arlen Specter (D-PA), Robert Casey (D-PA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) are gathering Senate signatures for a letter to the Senate Majority Leader calling on the inclusion of an ASP prompt pay discount fix in the Senate health reform bill. Their amendment to the Senate health reform legislation would work to better align Average Sales Price ("ASP") drug reimbursement with actual cost.

This effort enjoys wide support among community oncology and specialty distribution organizations, including ACCC, Amerisource Bergen, ASCO, COA, Curascript Specialty Distribution, HDMA, Health Coalition, Inc., McKesson Corporation, Patient Services Incorporated, SBDA, SGO, UPMC Cancer Centers and US Oncology.

Drug manufacturers are currently required to net out prompt pay discounts paid to wholesale distributors before reporting ASP figures to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), even though the wholesaler prompt pay discount is not passed along to physicians. Physician drug reimbursements are lowered by approximately two percent by this provision in the ASP calculation, which is the customary amount of the wholesale distributor prompt pay discount.

Through the leadership of Reps. Gene Green (D-TX) and Ed Whitfield (R-KY), along with and a bipartisan group of over 60 additional co-sponsors, the House Energy & Commerce Committee incorporated the prompt pay discount fix into their bill. Unfortunately, this provision was stripped from the House health reform bill before it reached final passage, which makes its inclusion in the Senate bill that much more important.

Please take a few minutes to contact your Senator today to ask them to sign the Specter-Casey-Brown-Stabenow letter to the Senate Majority Leader.

Click here to view all contact information for your US Senators.

Click here to view a copy of the Specter-Casey-Brown-Stabenow letter to the Senate Majority Leader.

Click here to review telephone talking points.