CARSTAIRS - Cuts to assessment fees paid to pharmacists by the provincial government that came into effect this month should be a concern for the public, says a local pharmacist.
Effective Nov. 1 the province has changed the initial assessment fee pharmacists can bill the provincial government for a comprehensive annual care plan to $70 from $100. It also reduced the maximum allowed follow-up visits per claimant from 12 to four per 356-day period from the last date of the previous comprehensive annual care plan or standard medication management assessment.
Mac Ghobrial is a pharmacist who owns Carstairs Remedy's RX Pharmacy, Cremona Family Pharmacy and Didsbury Family RX Pharmacy.
“The public needs to know what is going on,” Ghobrial told the Albertan. “It just does not make sense whatsoever. The assessment doesn’t happen in five minutes; it takes a lot of time.
“You can’t have a business, which is what the pharmacy world is, without adequate funding and I’m talking about the funding coming from the compensation for the work that is done.”
“I would highly recommend that members of the public who are affected by the cut in pharmacy funding to let their MLA know that you can’t have your cake and eat it too.”
Asked if the change in fees could lead to patients being billed, Ghobrial said, “That’s definitely an option but we are trying to keep that as a last option because we know with today’s economy that’s not feasible for a lot of people.”
Could the changes lead to pharmacist offices closing down?
“It might end up being that. When you are looking at dollars and cents it’s not a tiny dollar amount,” he said.
In a letter to Alberta pharmacist announcing the fee changes, Alberta Health Minister Adriana LaGrange said, in part, that, “The decision to make these changes to these pharmacy services has taken into consideration the financial sustainability of both government and pharmacies, while minimizing the impact to service quality and access to primary care for Albertans.
“Alberta pharmacists currently receive higher than average fees for care plans as well as higher than average fees for dispensing medications than other provinces. The changes in compensation for these services aligns with the care plan fee structure in other provinces that also fund these services."
Ghorbrial provided the Albertan with a statement from Brittany Zelmer, president of the Pharmacists' Association of Alberta.
“The cuts will likely have a severe impact on vulnerable populations, such as seniors living in long-term care facilities, patients living with complex conditions, and inner-city transient patient populations,” Zelmer said.
“By stripping pharmacists of the resources they need, the government is undermining the very collaboration that refocusing healthcare in Alberta seeks to promote. This is not progress; it’s a step backward.
“The intended saving from cutting pharmacy fees will quickly be overshadowed by increased costs elsewhere in the healthcare system.”
Pharmacists are “ready and willing to contribute to meaningful solution that benefit patients and the health-care system as a whole,” she said.
Care plans and follow-ups are the faster growing category of clinical pharmacy services funded under the compensation plan for pharmacy services, accounting for more than 65 per cent of expenditures in 2023-24, said minister LaGrange.
