Legislative Activity

TennCare Proposes Significant Cuts To Pharmacy Program

Posted on February 12, 2015

On Tuesday, February 10th, TPA staff attended a Senate Finance, Ways and Means Committee meeting and heard a presentation by the Tennessee Department and Finance and Administration regarding the State’s proposed Fiscal Year 2016 budget (July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016). During the meeting, the Department of Finance and Administration noted that additional recurring State funding will be required to offset the increasing TennCare program costs for prescription drugs, due primarily to the upward market pressures on prices for generics and specialty drugs, as well as an increase in pharmacy utilization. TPA previously sent information to members regarding the TennCare proposed budget hearing held on December 5, 2014. For the FY2016 proposed budget, Governor Haslam requested that each Department prepare a budget which included a 7% overall reduction in operating costs. The proposed budget presented earlier this week includes several significant cuts to the TennCare pharmacy program that TPA members should know about; outlined in THIS TABLE.

Additional Budget Resources:

To access an electronic copy of the recommended base budget reductions (pages 28-29) for fiscal year 2015-2016, CLICK HERE.
To access an electronic copy of the complete recommended budget for fiscal year 2015-2016, CLICK HERE.

TPA needs YOUR help! These proposed TennCare changes could result in a total state and federal funding reduction of $24 million to the pharmacy program! It will be vital to educate legislators and members of the Governor’s administration about the impact these cuts could have on patient access to pharmacist-provided care. To that end, we ask that you make plans to attend the TPA Midyear Meeting on February 23-24, 2015, in Nashville. During our meeting, representatives from TennCare will provide updates on these proposed cuts and other important pharmacy-related issues. The TPA Legislative Reception on the evening of February 23 is a great opportunity for you to educate your elected legislators about the issues facing pharmacists and pharmacy professionals, and the impact of proposed legislation.

TPA will continue to work on this important issue and provide TPA members with additional information and resources as they become available.