State Legislatures Tackle Prescription Drug Costs, Wait For Congressional Action
State legislatures are considering a variety of measures to assist seniors with prescription drug costs. The following briefly summarizes some of the proposals.
- Arizona: The Senate Health Committee is holding hearings on a provision of SB 1110, which would create a state "buying club" to purchase discounted drugs from pharmaceutical companies. Other provisions in the bill would provide financial assistance for low-income seniors to cover drug costs, but as the bill lacks political support, proponents plan to separate the "buying club" provision of the bill in order to "salvage" the proposal. Under the financial assistance provision, seniors under 300% of the federal poverty level would be eligible for prescription coverage through the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, the state's Medicaid program (Fischer, Arizona Daily Star, 2/26).
- Rhode Island: Legislators are considering a plan based on a disputed Maine law that uses the state's "bulk purchasing power" to negotiate discounts and rebates for the uninsured and those without prescription coverage. If enacted, eligible residents would receive a card guaranteeing them state-negotiated lower prices at the pharmacy. However, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America is challenging the Maine law as an unconstitutional limit on interstate commerce and a violation of federal Medicaid laws (CongressDaily/A.M., 2/26).
- Maryland: Two committees in the state House convened a joint hearing on Feb. 26 to discuss six proposals to expand prescription drug coverage to seniors. One plan requires pharmacies in the state's Medicaid program to provide seniors discounts that vary by drug, while another would have the state apply for a federal waiver to extend Medicaid drug discounts to all Maryland seniors, also similar to the Maine program. In addition, legislators have proposed expanding MEDBANK, a not-for-profit organization that links low-income patients to free drugs provided by pharmaceutical company discount programs (Barker, Baltimore Sun, 2/25).
- Wisconsin: Gov. Scott McCallum (R) released his budget proposal for 2001-2003, but the plan includes "no new funding" for a prescription drug plan he proposed last month. Instead, the budget calls on the Department of Health and Social Services to implement the program with savings from "more efficiently" run operations. Under McCallum's plan, seniors age 65 and older would qualify for prescription assistance if their annual income was below 185% of poverty, or around $15,448 for individuals and $20,800 for couples (Jones, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 2/24).
