Vermont Welfare Program Intends to Stop Covering OxyContin

Vermont Gov. Howard Dean (D) announced last week that the state will stop paying for the prescription painkiller OxyContin for certain welfare beneficiaries because of the drug's "growing link to crime and addiction," the AP/Billings Gazette reports. Although other states, such as South Carolina, have placed restrictions on OxyContin's prescription, Vermont is the first state to stop paying for the drug. Currently, 70 people receiving general assistance through the state's social welfare department have been prescribed OxyContin. "Many more" Vermont residents receive prescription drug coverage through Medicaid, but the state cannot "unilaterally" stop paying for Medicaid beneficiaries' OxyContin prescriptions because the program is partly funded by the federal government, the AP/Gazette reports. (Sneyd, AP/Billings Gazette, 7/20) Although states are not required to offer prescription drugs as a benefit under Medicaid, states that choose to offer the benefit (which all do) are required by law to provide coverage for virtually all FDA-approved drugs (Kaiser Family Foundation, "Medicaid Benefits," 7/31/00). The state also would have to negotiate with union officials if it decided to stop covering the drug for state employees, a move Dean said he "would like to try." Dean said that the "state will work with doctors and pharmacies to find alternative pain management drugs [to] replace OxyContin." James Heins, a spokesperson for OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, said, "There are other more effective ways to combat abuse than limiting access to patients" (Sneyd, AP/Billings Gazette, 7/20).