North Carolina Considers Expanding Medicaid Access To Cut State’s Drug Costs

The North Carolina Department of Health and Humans Services is planning to release a proposal this week that aims to reduce Medicaid spending on prescription drugs by expanding enrollment in Carolina Access, the state's Medicaid managed care program, the Raleigh News & Observer reports. Currently, the state spends $1 billion annually on medications for Medicaid beneficiaries. The health department had intended to reduce drug spending as much as $70 million by restricting access to brand-name drugs, but the pharmaceutical industry opposed the plan and has been lobbying state lawmakers to block its implemenation. Under a new plan, pharmaceutical companies would contribute $20 million to expand Carolina Access, which manages patient care to reduce hospital and emergency care. Health Secretary Carmen Hooker Odom said the new plan is not an indication the drug industry had successfully "thwart[ed]" the drug-management idea. Rather, she said she wanted a "palatable alternative" for the industry. "It has always been our intent in this time of fiscal crisis not to have an agenda of going after one particular entity," she added. While the industry has not agreed to the plan to expand Carolina Access, the cost would be less expensive than the drug-management proposal, the News & Observer reports. Mary Anne Rhyne, a spokesperson for GlaxoSmithKline, said, "Nothing's ruled in; nothing's ruled out. It's still an ongoing discussion" (Raleigh, News & Observer, 8/1).