This pharmacy, Precision Rx, has massive shipping centers around the country. Its plan is to provide box and ship services to those requiring factor concentrates for the treatment of their hemophilia or other bleeding disorders. Although Precision Rx admits to knowing little or nothing about hemophilia, saying instead that it’s network of nurses to monitor patients should suffice, few in the hemophilia community believe its claims that it will “improve their care” and save more than 20% over current home care arrangements, the savings reducing premiums.

Hemophilia requires regular infusions of clotting factor to treat episodic bleeding events. Treating those events in a timely and efficient manner is critical to reducing the crippling effects these episodes have. Specialty care pharmacies have, in general, contributed to the improving the health and wellness of persons with hemophilia and other bleeding disorders. This is, in part, due to the knowledge they have about clotting disorders and the myriad of problems such as HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C, and arthritis associated with hemophilia and other clotting disorders.

For a community devastated by HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C, it is unconscionable that we are to be denied choice of provider and product in the name of Anthem/Blue Cross’ profits. We will not be test animals for a system of delivery that has nothing to do with the health outcomes our community

Since the cost of our medication is great -- $2,000 a week is a common amount – as consumers we must have insurance. For those of us with Blue Cross, however, things are slated to change.

Blue Cross’ new parent company, Anthem, has announced in the states mentioned above that it will sever all home care contracts for infusion therapies such as factor concentrates for members in these states January 1. For one of the states, Missouri, the launch date is February 15.

Hemophilia patients must instead register their prescriptions with Precision Rx and wait for shipments from it. They needn’t wait for a family interview; Precision Rx is not planning to visit its clients. They had better speak English; Precision Rx has no Spanish-speaking staff. And they had better not have any of the many special needs within the clotting disorders family, such as when the medicine just stops working and bleeding incidents begin – where the only solution is to switch products – because Precision Rx admits it doesn’t know hemophilia, and that it will not hire any member of the hemophilia community, including the many who perform outreach for home care companies today.

Obviously, the reality is one thing and the profit-making plans of this pharmacy-insurer making medical decisions without the doctor or patient being involved is quite another.

We ask that the spotlight of public indignation be aimed hard and long at these profiteers. We are contacting government, media, advocacy associations, and industry competitors to bring this attempt to rob our community while professing to provide care out into the open.

Some pointed questions need to be asked.

 Is it desirable to have a third-party payer such as Anthem/Blue Cross directly involved (ownership) in the delivery of health care services?

Why is hemophilia being denied choice of provider when choice is touted as one of the major strengths of our system of health care delivery?

A.     Why are we are being singled out, not as an experiment in better care delivery but in the name of Anthem/Blue Cross profits? The next step if this is allowed to succeed is formularies and preferred product lists.