In my town, small businesses are considered local treasures. One of those treasures is Holland’s Variety Drug, an independently owned drug store that has been in business in Skowhegan since 1938. When you enter the store, the pharmacists know you by name and are always willing to answer questions and assist you in any way that they can.

Even during a struggling economy, Variety Drug has always been successful because they care so much about their customers. Just earlier this month, Variety Drug opened a new location in Skowhegan with a bigger store and a drive-through window so clients do not have to leave the comfort of their cars. Variety Drug has been so successful that its owner even opened another drug store in Farmington.

Unfortunately, just as Variety Drug’s business was expanding, the owner found out that he was going to lose more than 100 customers between his two stores.

Variety Drug received word that it was going to lose all of its customers who were on Maine’s Medicare Advantage Plan, the plan for retired state employees. The pharmacy did not receive notice from Aetna, the company that administers the plan. Instead, they heard from their clients, who were told by Aetna to find a new drug store.

Two other locally owned pharmacies in Bingham and Madison also are losing customers because of this transition. When customers came in January and tried to fill their prescriptions, they found they could no longer use their local drug store. Instead, they had to have their prescriptions sent to another store. For small rural businesses, losing even 10 customers hurts.

The Maine Bureau of Human Resources said that, as part of the renewal of the Medicare Advantage Plan, all customers were being moved to Aetna’s Pharmacy Value Network. The changes will save customers $8 per month, they say.

The catch is customers now must use one of the preferred pharmacies. For all of Somerset County, that is either Hannaford or Walmart.

I am strongly in favor of saving customers money, but the pharmacies should have been notified about the change in plan. Many local pharmacies, including Variety Drug, would have been willing to join the network, regardless of the parameters set forth by Aetna.

Variety Drug’s customers are devastated by this change. Many have been going there for decades, and they do not want to have to abandon the drug store that has treated them so well.

As Maine continues to struggle to recover from bad economic times, small businesses are the backbone that helps propel our economy forward. This change by Aetna will affect locally owned pharmacies across Maine.

Local pharmacies that are going to lose their clients eventually were told they would have an interim period where the customers may continue to use them. But by the end of February all clients now on Aetna’s value network would need to choose a new pharmacy.

We should be supporting the expansion of small businesses such as Variety Drug, not catering to big businesses whose profits don’t stay in Maine or support the local economy.

While it is possible that some pharmacies may be allowed to join the Value Network, if they meet the acceptable criteria, they would not be allowed to join until 2016, because, according to the Office of Employee Health and Benefits, the contract is negotiated annually.

This means that they will at least lose out on business from customers on the Medicare Advantage Plan for 10 months.

As your state representative, I am working to find a solution so that local pharmacies do not lose customers. I also am urging my colleagues to speak out against this, as many also have locally owned pharmacies in their districts that will lose clients because of this transition.

If pharmacies are willing to meet the parameters expected by Aetna to join the network, and clients want to continue to use their locally owned pharmacy, this should be an easy fix. However, the local pharmacies are forced to wait until next year just to apply.

We need to stand by our local pharmacies and urge Aetna to add them to the preferred network for the Medicare Advantage Plan. Customers who have used the same drug store for decades should not have to lose their pharmacists. Pharmacies that have seen generations of clients should not have to lose them.

I urge the Maine Bureau of Human Resources and Aetna to do the right thing and support local pharmacies.

Rep. Jeff McCabe, D-Skowhegan, is the House majority leader.

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