State Officials to Discuss Prescription Drug Purchasing Pool

"Bedeviled by sharply rising" prescription drug costs, 12 representatives of states in the Pharmacy Workgroup, a coalition of about 15 states, will meet in Atlanta today to discuss a purchasing pool that would cover state employees and Medicaid beneficiaries, AP/Newsday reports (Agovino, AP/Newsday, 8/8). The coalition, composed of mostly southern states, plans to pool resources to negotiate discounts for seniors and state and local employees (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 7/30). According to Tom Susman, director of the West Virginia Public Employee Insurance Agency, the coalition will likely have "commitments from enough states" in October to begin the process of hiring a pharmacy benefit manager. Susman, who leads the coalition, predicted five or six states will participate in an "initial pool" that would cover state employees, but he said that extending the pool to Medicaid beneficiaries becomes "more complicated." Although he expects the pool to result in "significant savings," Susman said that "how much will depend on how many, and which, states decide to participate." Missouri plans to participate in the initial pool, while Maryland will wait "to see how the deal is structured." Meanwhile, the pharmaceutical industry, "worried about the effects of states combining their buying power," has criticized the plan. "Large buying consortiums distort the marketplace," Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America spokesperson Jeff Trewhitt said, adding, "And if these consortiums are run by governments and have legislative power, it is no longer a level playing field" (AP/Newsday, 8/8).