AnthemSettlementOn May 23rd a settlement was reached in San Diego Superior Court in the lawsuit brought against Anthem Blue Cross when Anthem instituted mandatory mail order on HIV specialty drugs.

Download the Settlement Here

The mandatory mail order would have serious risks to HIV patient health and safety as well as threats to their privacy. Community HIV Pharmacies that have HIV credentialed HIV pharmacists and sensitive caring staff can continue to provide exceptional care to their HIV patients, who they have built strong relationships, built on care and trust for many years.

As the result of a settlement in a recent lawsuit, Anthem Blue Cross has agreed to provide a simple ‘opt out’ option for patients who wish to remain with their local community pharmacy.  That policy permits patients to opt out for any reason by calling a dedicated phone number.  This provision goes into effect June 1st. Patients will have until August 1, 2013 to make their request to opt out of the mail order program.

Download the sample letter here

The HIV pharmacist is a key member of the patients’ healthcare team and will now work with their Anthem Blue Cross patients to educate them on the importance of face-to-face health care counseling from pharmacists specializing in HIV/AIDS, and help their patients understand the opt-out process.

Legislative action has also been initiated in California and the California Pharmacists Association has introduced AB 299 (Holden) to put an end to mandatory mail programs and give patients a choice with mail order. John Roth CEO of CPhA said “Automatically enrolling patients into a mail order pharmacy program takes away a patient’s right to select the option that best fits their healthcare needs and could negatively impact their therapeutic outcome.  With AB 299, patients who prefer to have their medications mailed to them will still have that option, but those who want to maintain their patient-provider relationship with a community pharmacist whom they personally know and trust, will be able to do so as well.  AB 299 is a win-win solution for all patients.”