The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Democratic National Alliance (DNA) leader yesterday revealed he was resisting advice to cease his family pharmacy’s participation in the Government’s prescription drug plan because consistent monthly losses were “the norm”.

Branville McCartney told Tribune Business he was resisting the urgings of his accountants “to get rid of” the National Prescription Drug Plan (NPDP) because of the harmful effects it would have on many Bahamians.

The DNA leader, whose family owns Wilmac’s Pharmacies, said his and other pharmaceutical retailers were frequently incurring losses from the NPDP as a result of the large inventories they were required to carry.

His comments echo those contained in a position paper submitted to the Government and its National Health Insurance (NHI) consultants by pharmacy owners, who are arguing that the ‘playing field be levelled’ as a result of the difficulties imposed by the NPDP.

The paper, obtained by Tribune Business, urged that the “cash flow constraints” imposed on private pharmacies by having to carry higher inventory levels as a result of the Plan be offset by a bar on competition provided by the pharmacies at government-run clinics.

This, and Mr McCartney’s comments, also represent a further warning sign for the Government in relation to its NHI plan, which will effectively expand the existing NPDP near 20-fold - from covering 23,000 persons to around 350,000 persons.

In remarks that suggest such an expansion will be even more unworkable, Mr McCartney told Tribune Business: “I will tell you as it stands right now with respect to the NPDP, and I think I speak for the majority of the pharmacies, that the fact we have to pay upfront for such large inventories sometimes results in a loss on the returns we get.

“It’s rare that it becomes a profit. That’s why we have concerns with the drug plan as it stands now. And the problem is that we don’t know what the NHI plan is going to be offering.”

Mr McCartney’s comments reaffirm the pharmacy owners’ position as expressed to the NHI consultants, Sanigest Internacional, which urged that these losses be offset.

Their position paper complained that the NPDP had, for the past six years, forced all pharmacies to carry higher inventory levels to ensure prescription drugs/medicines were constantly available for plan beneficiaries.

Warning that inventory levels would have to further increase to cope with NHI, the paper said: “This has become a financial burden to the smaller pharmacies, especially for those where the number of their customers who qualify for the plan is minimal because of the proximity of the Government clinics to their establishments, which has resulted in direct ‘competition’.

“While it is envisioned that NHI will extend to the entire population of the Bahamas, thus resulting in increased numbers of beneficiaries who will become ‘customers’ of participating pharmacies, it is recommended that the NHI prescription drug service is discontinued at government-owned clinics, or that these pharmacy facilities be leased to private businesses in order to ‘level the playing field’.”

Confirming the extent of this problem, Mr McCartney said of his family’s Wilmac business: “From a profit point of view there are months that we lose because of us having to buy thousands of dollars worth of drugs, which people don’t necessarily need.

“I’ve been told we ought to cut this out, as we’re not necessarily obligated to carry it, but I don’t want to do that. Wilmac is the second largest pharmacy in terms of doing business next to Lowe’s,and hurting Bahamians is not something I want to do.”

Mr McCartney said his family’s pharmacy was typically spending “close to $100,000” on medicines, only to frequently lose money or ‘break even’ on the NPDP component of its business.

He added that while Wilmac generated a profit from the plan last month, based on 600 prescriptions, at $2,000 this was a relatively minimal return.

As a result, the Government-run scheme is having to be subsidised by other parts of Wilmac’s business that are profitable.

“That’s not the norm,” Mr McCartney said of the $2,000 profit last month. “It breaks even or you lose.

“The accountants tell me we have to get rid of it. But to get rid of it means that hundreds and hundreds of patients will not be able to get their drugs.

“Not all pharmacies are in the plan, and if you go to the Government clinics they don’t have the drugs. It’s just a handful of pharmacies that are able to supply it, and you break even or are able to absorb the loss,” he added.

“It helps people but causes a loss to us. That’s not good for business. The accountants tell me: ‘You’ve got to get rid of this, you’ve got to get rid of this’, but I say: ‘I’ve got to help the people’.”