Ohio Lawmakers to Address Bills Outlining Prescription Drug Discount Programs

To help "ease" the cost of prescription drugs, Ohio lawmakers this fall will "sort through competing" prescription drug discount proposals, the Columbus Dispatch reports. Among the proposals:

• HB 290/SB 127: Sponsored by state Rep. Dale Miller (D) and state Sen. Robert Hagan (D), the legislation would make all Ohio residents eligible to apply for drug cards that could offer discounts of up to 60% on pharmaceuticals. The bills would allow the state's Department of Job and Family Services to negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies for lower prices. Bill Burga, president of the Ohio chapter of the AFL-CIO, which supports the legislation, said that people without insurance and the underinsured would "benefit most" from the plan.
• HB 4: Sponsored by state Rep. John Hagan (R), the bill would allow the state Department of Aging to create a prescription drug program for residents enrolled in the Golden Buckeye Card program, a consumer discount program for seniors. The bill would authorize an administrator to use bulk purchasing power to negotiate discounts on drugs and would allow pharmacies to participate "voluntarily." The measure is backed by Ohio Gov. Bob Taft (R), who said he hopes the program would save seniors 30% on medicines, a discount that insurance companies "routinely negotiate for their clients." The legislation has already passed the state House and is now pending in the state Senate.

Drug Debate
Burga said that the Miller-Hagan bill would extend prescription drug discounts to more people than the Taft-backed bill, which "focuses on senior citizens and the permanently disabled." Ohio pharmacies also have expressed concerns about the Taft-supported bill, and John Hagan "conceded" that the Miller-Hagan bill "might benefit more people" since it would extend discounts to non-retirees. But Joe Andrews, a spokesperson for Taft, said that the governor is concerned about the Miller-Hagan legislation because it is "patterned after" a discount program enacted in Maine that has been challenged in federal court. The Miller-Hagan bill would "grant Medicaid status to anyone who doesn't have insurance, potentially doubling the Medicaid rolls and raising drug prices," Andrews said. Jeff Trewhitt, a spokesperson for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, said that the Miller-Hagan bill would "creat[e] a government-controlled program that could lower the quality of care for the poor" and carries an "implied threat" that if drug makers fail to offer lower prices for medicines, "the use of certain medicines could be restricted unless previously approved for reimbursement by the state Medicaid program" (Porter, Columbus Dispatch, 8/29). For further information on state health policy in Ohio, visit State Health Facts Online.