Week 2:
National Association of Chain Drug Stores

July 1, 2013

I had another fantastic week at NACDS!

This week, I had the privilege of attending two Congressional Hearings on Capitol Hill! Both of these were incredible experiences. The first hearing discussed Drug Abuse and the CMS Reimbursements. This was interesting because I had never heard of the “doctor shopping” or “pill mill” fraud schemes before. Both of these cost about $10 billion in taxpayer dollars, as well as causing a high amount of drug overdoses. All of the witnesses discussed creative ways to staff and fund oversight committees, ways to get parents involved and educated about drug abuse, and problems with too much reimbursement.

The second hearing was regarding Medicare Part B and Senior Citizens. More and more, seniors are getting sent to hospitals far away from their homes rather than getting fast, accessible treatment from their local oncology clinics. These clinics simply cannot afford to stay open when they are paying for the medication and services, but not getting fully reimbursed by Medicare. By sending these seniors into the hospitals, it is costing Medicare (and taxpayer dollars) more. I believe the congressmen said that unnecessary hospital visits such as those that can be done in a clinic setting account for about $250 billion dollars. We must see a change in legislation if we are to ever truly balance the budget.

I worked on a few other projects this week, one for the NACDS Foundation and the other for our Communications and Media Relations department. For the Foundation, which is our company charity, I began researching email addresses for a number of important researchers and administrative officials. We will be contacting them within the coming weeks. Next, I analyzed the various social media outlets for numerous pain management groups. It was interesting to see how much some companies rely on social media to share their message and updates. However, some groups tend to shy away from the typical sites (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) and utilize their own personal blogs or forums. I did a write-up on the information that I found. I am also still working on my original larger project. The CDC reviewed the Hepatitis C facts, and decided that screenings should be covered for all Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries. This is a huge decision and should help to decrease the high amount of undiagnosed Hep C cases.

I cannot wait for the Fourth of July! Seeing the fireworks with the monuments in the background will be an amazing view. Also, my girlfriend (Tara Doner ’15) and parents will be visiting, as well. It will be awesome to show them around Washington, D.C. Can’t believe that I only have 6 weeks left.