Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report Rounds Up State Action on Prescription Drugs

The following is a summary of recent news on states' prescription drug plans:

• Georgia: A bill ( SB 470) introduced Feb. 19 by state Sen. Jack Hill (D) would create a prescription drug discount program for Georgia residents ages 55 and over, the Florida Times-Union reports. The bill would make drug manufacturers who sell medications through state-supported programs, including Medicaid, pay rebates to the state Department of Community Health. The state would use the rebate money to reimburse pharmacies that would give drug discounts to residents ages 55. Georgia currently receives about $185 million each year in rebates from drug companies through Medicaid, according to state Rep. Ron Stephens (R) (Williams, Florida Times-Union, 2/21).
• Indiana: Prescription drug benefits and eligibility for the state's senior drug program, HoosierRx, would expand under amendments attached on Feb. 19 to a "routine bill" (SB 107) that reauthorizes the state's prescription drug advisory committee, the Evansville Courier and Press reports. The bill, proposed by state Rep. Vaneta Becker (R), would increase the minimum annual drug benefit from $500 to $1,000 and the maximum from $1,000 to $2,000. The bill would expand eligibility from 133% of poverty to 200% of poverty. The bill calls for the state to apply for a Medicaid waiver to cover the drug costs of additional seniors, as well as to seek rebates from pharmaceutical companies (Starks, Evansville Courier and Press, 2/20).
• Washington: Under a bill (SB 6368) passed by the state Senate Feb. 18, the state would create a list of "preferred" drugs for many common illnesses and use that list to "negotiate lower prices with drug manufacturers," the AP/Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. The bill is aimed at reducing the state's $1 billion drug costs during the current two-year budget cycle. For the first year, the preferred drug list would apply to 500,000 Medicaid beneficiaries, after which local governments, private companies and uninsured residents could participate (Queary, AP/Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 2/19). The bill, which still has to pass the House, calls for a panel of doctors and pharmacists to compare similar drugs and choose the cheapest one to put on a list of drugs that the state will buy in bulk. The bill would permit doctors to prescribe drugs not on the list (Timmerman, Seattle Times, 2/12). The bill would "eventually" replace a similar prescription drug program that took effect this month (Galloway, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 2/6). That program, called "Therapeutic Consultation Service," limits Medicaid beneficiaries to four brand-name prescriptions per month. If a patient attempts to fill a fifth brand-name prescription in a month, the pharmacist contacts the beneficiary's physician, who has to contact a pharmacist hired by the state for approval (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 2/6).