Posted on: Wednesday, February 5, 2003

EDITORIAL
Drug benefits cannot be limited to a few

As part of her State of the State speech, Gov. Linda Lingle promised prescription drug assistance to the needy. But the quasi-private, transitional plan Lingle has just unveiled is rather anticlimactic.

With a $3 million grant from the Weinberg Foundation, Lingle is proposing setting up a new bureaucracy to funnel free medicine to qualifying Islanders. The program would help about 20,000 people the first year.

Drug manufacturers are already donating free medicine to the needy. But the current system is fragmented, so Lingle's plan would presumably centralize the program, provide staffing and set up a call center run by the Hawai'i Medical Association.

Thus, free medicine would be made available through a public-private partnership while existing drug discount legislation is mired in the courts.

Anything that gets badly needed medication to the needy is worthwhile, so we applaud Lingle, the Weinberg Foundation and the drug companies for their efforts.

But the plan is not nearly as extensive as we would have hoped.

For example, what happens when the money runs out? Or if the drug companies pull out? The program is intended to provide relief until national legislation to provide free medicine to the poor is passed, but we're not sure what exactly President Bush has in mind or whether Congress is ready to take on anything much more than drug help for the elderly.

Bush has proposed prescription drug benefits as an option under Medicare reform. But he's been vague on the details. Plus, his plan appears to be targeted at retirees. In Hawai'i, at least, the need for drug assistance extends far beyond seniors.

So while no one should turn up his nose at this needed program, we would like to see some effort thrown into activating existing prescription drug assistance legislation.

For example, one program that allows more people to qualify for Medicaid drug coverage, cutting the cost of their medicine by 40 percent, could be launched as soon as April if Lingle releases $1.4 million to operate it. With the federal plan so vague, Hawai'i needs a solid plan with a wide reach.