PUTNEY — I was a Hotel Pharmacy prescription customer who experienced examples of how they were forced out of business.
Hotel Pharmacy told me that my Medicare Part D insurer has contracted with the manufacturer to cover the brand-name version of a common medication and deny coverage of generic equivalents. Moreover, the distributor requires a minimum order.
Despite having generics in stock, Hotel Pharmacy had to advise me to switch this prescription to local Rite Aid or Walgreens, unless I could wait until a minimum order could be placed. I could, and did.
Hotel Pharmacy then told me that they no longer were allowed to obtain another brand-name common medication that my Medicare Part D insurer covers and the prescribing physician had specified, advising me to switch this prescription to Rite Aid or Walgreens.
I had no alternative. Neither did Hotel Pharmacy.