Kentucky Replaces Medicaid Director, Requires Prior Authorization on Name-Brand Drugs

Faced with a "multi-million dollar" Medicaid shortfall, Kentucky officials on Oct. 17 announced plans to move ahead with restrictions on brand-name drugs and to replace state Medicaid Commissioner Dennis Boyd, who was asked to resign due to the program's deficits, the Lexington Herald-Leader reports. Health Services Cabinet Secretary Marcia Morgan said that Mike Robinson, the director of administrative services in the Governor's Office of Technology, will take over the position next month. Robinson will assume control of the program just as Medicaid officials are "moving ahead" with changes to cut spending on prescription drugs. Under "emergency regulations" filed this week, doctors will be required to obtain prior approval before prescribing brand-name or "more expensive" drugs. Officials are expected to ask state lawmakers to make the "temporary" regulation part of the permanent Medicaid law. The state House had attempted to enact a prior-authorization requirement in the 2001 legislative session, but the measure "stalled" in the state Senate. Until lawmakers address pharmaceutical spending, the Herald-Leader reports that the state is considering charging Medicaid and CHIP beneficiaries a $3 to $5 copayment for "some services or medications." Kentucky's Medicaid spending on pharmaceuticals increased to $568 million in the fiscal year that ended June 30, up from $433 million in the previous fiscal year (Richardson, Lexington Herald-Leader, 10/18). For further information on state health policy in Kentucky, visit State Health Facts Online.