Milwaukee County pharmacists fight lower HMO payments. (health maintenance organizations) (Industry Overview)

Some health maintenance organizations pay Milwaukee County pharmacists less than their suburban competitors, a practice independent pharmacists want the County Board to help stop.

The health maintenance organizations' two-tier payment system is just one more factor driving small independent pharmacists out of business, according to Jim Searles, owner of Brady Street Pharmacy, 1696 N. Astor St., Milwaukee.

Fed up with the reimbursement practice, which he said PrimeCare Health Plan Inc. of Wauwatosa started a few years ago, Searles complained to his county supervisor, Sheila Aldrich.

As a result, the Milwaukee County Board's Personnel Committee recently …