Washington State Sets Up Mail-Order Prescription Drug Service

Washington State has begun a mail-order prescription drug service for Medicaid beneficiaries in response to some pharmacies' refusal to serve Medicaid patients because of state budget cuts to reimbursement rates, the AP/Spokane Spokesman-Review reports. Doctors can now fax or mail Medicaid beneficiaries' prescriptions to New Jersey-based Medco Health Solutions. Medco, a subsidiary of Merck & Co., will fill and ship the prescriptions to the beneficiaries' homes via regular mail, a parcel service or registered mail, depending on the drug (AP/Spokane Spokesman-Review, 9/25). Earlier this year, the state Legislature passed a 3% cut in the pharmacy reimbursement rates for brand-name drugs and a 44% cut in rates for generic drugs (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 7/12). In response, many pharmacies in rural counties have stopped filling prescriptions for Medicaid beneficiaries. For example, eight out of nine pharmacies in Okanogan County no longer serve Medicaid beneficiaries, and the ninth pharmacy is considering similar action. Many of the county's 4,630 Medicaid beneficiaries do not live within 100 miles of a pharmacist willing to fill their prescriptions (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 8/20). At first, the mail-order prescription service will center on Okanogan, Pacific and Klickitat counties and the San Juan Islands because Medicaid beneficiaries "would have to travel hours to find a pharmacy to serve them." However, the service is available statewide, the Spokesman-Review reports. Information packets about the mail-order service were mailed to doctors on Monday, and Medco Health is prepared to begin taking prescription drug orders immediately (AP/Spokane Spokesman-Review, 9/25).