By Rick Pusiak
All is not well between Inco and members of the local pharmaceutical community.
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The relationship hit the skids after the cityÂ?s largest private business went ahead with a plan to try to save $2 million on its annual benefits bill, estimated last year at $29 million for 700,000 prescriptions.
Inco spokesperson Cory McPhee said Inco talked with the local pharmaceutical community for about a year and the pharmacists did submit a proposal but there were no savings in that package.
According to McPhee the company then invited every pharmacy to sign on to an Inco plan that involved whatÂ?s called an 80-80-80 rule.
Eighty per cent of prescriptions have to be generic drugs, 80 per cent of prescriptions have to be for 90 days, and 80 per cent of trial prescriptions have to be for 10 days.
Pharmacies that agree to partner with Inco also have to agree not to charge a dispensing fee higher than $6.47, the same amount paid by the provincial government under the Ontario Drug Benefit Plan.
Â?ItÂ?s what the Ontario government deems fair and reasonable,Â? said McPhee.
Â?Some of the pharmacists said well, that number has been in place for a long time, itÂ?s really outdated and weÂ?re negotiating with the province to get that raised. So we said listenÂ?if the number is raised, weÂ?ll raise it.Â?
The Inco proposal also called for participating pharmacies to partner with the company on wellness initiatives like blood pressure clinics and providing tips on proper nutrition.
About half the pharmacies are on board, either agreeing to the new rules or being designated by Inco as exempt because they are the only pharmacy within a two-kilometre area.
At those stores Inco employees simply pay a 35-cent fee.
McPhee said workers could still go to any pharmacy they want, but if the outlet is not partnered with Inco an employee may have to pay up front the cost of the prescription and dispensing fee and then be reimbursed by Liberty Health.
The spokesperson said pharmacies were given one last chance to sign on. Those who decided not to partner with Inco wonÂ?t be able to add their name to the list until 2005.
Inco workers with questions on the pharmacy issue can call a company hotline (682-5499) during business hours.
McPhee said the company is intent on staying in Sudbury and is focused on decreasing costs and increasing revenue.
Â?What weÂ?re seeing with prescription drugs is that itÂ?s an uncontrolled increase right now year upon year across the province,Â? said McPhee.
Â?The cost of supplying prescription drugs to our employees and pensioners rose more than 70 per cent in the last four years.Â?
Inco commissioned a survey to compare its health care bill to industries with similar benefit plans in other cities and the study showed the Sudbury operation is paying 30 per cent more on average for prescriptions.
Comment from the Sudbury and District Pharmacy Association was not available at press time.
The group did place a full-page advertisement in the May 31 edition of Northern Life listing their concerns.
One pharmacist wrote a letter to the editor saying heÂ?s leaving Sudbury for southern Ontario in large part because of the Inco action.
Â?(The Inco) program does not focus on improving patient health,Â? wrote Michael Boivin who moved to Sudbury in 1993 from Toronto.
Â?It is meant to limit the quality care provided by some of the best pharmacists in the country.Â?
