Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report Reviews Developments in State Prescription Discount Programs
The following is a summary of recent news regarding state prescription drug discount programs.
- Iowa: Iowa Priority, the state's prescription discount plan for seniors, is not reducing prices as expected (Leys, Des Moines Register, 2/7). Under the program, a not-for-profit co-op negotiates prices with drug companies. State officials said that participating seniors would see "significant price drops" by participating in the program; pharmacists, on the other hand, said the actual discounts would range between 10% and 20%. The amount of savings is linked to how many seniors enroll. About 300,000 state residents are eligible (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 7/3). More than 20,000 seniors have enrolled in the program, but the state is still in the process of negotiating deals with drug makers to secure price breaks. Anecdotal reports indicate seniors currently are saving less than $10 per month on their prescription costs (Des Moines Register, 2/7).
- Minnesota: The House Health and Human Services Policy Committee voted 15-1 on Feb. 7 in favor of a bill that would cut drug prices by 15% for low-income residents. Under the plan, pharmacists would give the discount to people with annual incomes up to 250% of the federal poverty level, or $21,475 for a single person. The state would reimburse the pharmacies and seek a rebate with drug manufacturers (Howe, AP/St. Paul Pioneer Press, 2/8). The state would use a "revolving" $5 million fund -- yet to be set up -- to operate the program (deFiebre, Minneapolis Star Tribune, 2/8).
- Nevada: As expected, the enrollment cap on the state's Senior Rx program has been expanded by 1,500 to 6,000, Gov. Kenny Guinn (R) announced on Feb. 6 (Las Vegas Sun, 2/7). Under Senior Rx, seniors with annual incomes of less than $21,500 are eligible to have up to $5,000 in prescription costs covered per year. Participants pay $10 per generic drug prescription and $25 per brand-name prescription (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 12/12/01). The program is administrated by a private insurance company, and the state had been paying an annual premium of $1,280 per senior. However, negotiations with the insurance company reduced that premium to $981 per senior, allowing the state to use the resulting savings to cover more seniors (Las Vegas Sun, 2/7).
