Texas House Approval of Senior Drug Plan Leads Health Policy Report Prescription Drug Round-Up
The Texas House on April 25 gave "preliminary approval" to a bill (HB 1094) that would create a prescription drug program for Medicare beneficiaries, the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram reports. Eligibility would be determined by income, with the poorest beneficiaries receiving priority for state aid. As more funding becomes available, the program would be expanded to include more people (Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, 4/25). While the bill does not authorize funding for the plan, the state Legislative Budget Board estimates it will cost $274 million to run the program for 2002-03. Rep. Patricia Gray (D), the bill's sponsor, said that the program won't be fully funded but that it still is "an important start to address a problem that will grow" as baby boomers age. "If we can only take care of five people [under the plan], that's five more people than we are taking care of today," Gray said (Elliott, Houston Chronicle, 4/26).
Other Rx Action
Legislators in Indiana and Louisiana and on Capitol Hill are also taking action on prescription drug plans, as detailed below:
- Capitol Hill: Sen. Mark Dayton (D-Minn.) on April 25 introduced a bill that would require the Senate to begin debate on prescription drugs by June 20. He said that he introduced the bill because his past attempts to bring the issue to the floor "have been thwarted," adding, "Virtually every member of Congress has paid lip service to this problem, but until we act, it simply won't get solved ... Actions speak louder than words." Dayton has donated his Senate salary to finance prescription drug-buying trips to Canada for Minnesota seniors (Gustafson, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, 4/26). Dayton's family owns the national retail group Target Corp., which includes Dayton's, Hudson's and Marshall Field's (Minnesota Daily Online, 1/16).
- Indiana: Pharmacists, physicians and mental health advocates on April 23 lobbied against a proposed Medicaid rule that would give state Medicaid officials the authority to require state approval for any drug before it was prescribed. The rule would also reduce pharmacists' dispensing fees. Indiana's Medicaid program is expected to spend $621.5 million on drugs -- after manufacturers' rebates -- by 2003, but the rule would cut spending by more than $300 million over the next two-year budget cycle (Corcoran, Indianapolis Star, 4/24).
- Louisiana: A state House committee on April 25 killed a bill (HB 865) that would have allowed pharmacists to substitute generic drugs for brand-name drugs unless specifically prohibited from doing so by the prescribing physician. Currently, Louisiana law requires pharmacists to receive permission from doctors before offering generic equivalents or risk losing their licenses and face fines. Lobbyists opposing the bill said that the measure would allow pharmacists to fill orders with generics "without even asking customers" -- a charge bill sponsor Rep. Ronnie Johns (D) "flatly denied" (Dyer, Baton Rouge Advocate, 4/26).
