Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator Instructions) The first question comes from the line of Lisa Gill with J.P. Morgan.
Lisa Gill – J.P. Morgan
Thanks very much and congratulations on the great numbers for the fourth quarter. Joel, as we look at the stock trading today, and with the Obama stimulus package out now and well as the budget out this morning, what is potentially in either one of those that would impact Omnicare as we look forward?
And secondly, as we think about rebates, we haven't talked about rebates in a long time, but where do you stand with CMS around your ability to continue to garner rebates from the pharmaceutical manufacturers. And along the lines of rebates also, can you maybe give us some thoughts around Wyeth and Pfizer coming together and if that will have any impact on your ability to negotiate rebates with them?
Joel Gemunder
Let start me start with your second question first, because I remember it better than the first part. When it comes to rebates, particularly in conversations with Pfizer, we just had Pfizer out here just a few days ago, and we believe the environment with Pfizer has improved markedly from where it was before, and we are reasonably optimistic that our relationships both financial and otherwise will improve during the year.
Now coming back to the issue of rebates, you are all aware or should be aware of the Waxman proposed thinking on rebates, and which the President appears to have adopted. Now I having been on this call, I haven't been able to see what the latest business budgets pronouncements, but as we understand and having had extensive conversations with the staffers at Waxman at Congressman Waxman's office, we believe that what he is after is to recapture the rebates that were formally given by large pharma manufacturers to Medicaid for the inclusion of their products or for access to their products on Medicaid formularies.
We believe a certain portion of these rebates were lost to Medicaid, as the shift to Part D occurred. And the thought here is to recapture these rebates, and as I understand it, the rebates will go back to they are proposing that the rebates go back to approximately where they were before the Part D program began.
Now when this program began give you a little history when this program began some years ago, it created the tradeoff was rebates for access to Medicaid formularies. And that meant that there was relatively open access, which was much better for patients because they got the drugs they needed, but it also had the impact of increasing competition in the market, and was a favorable factor in generating rebates, rather than the other way around.
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