Posted on: Friday, September 10, 2004
Hawai'i will pay less for prescription drugs
By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Health Writer
The cost of providing medications to many of Hawai'i's poorest patients is expected to drop by $4 million a year now that the state has been approved for a bulk-buying prescription drug program.
The savings were announced by Gov. Linda Lingle after U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson gave the green light to Hawai'i's proposal to join a drug purchasing pool with six other states.
State Human Services Director Lillian Koller said the savings will be spent improving healthcare in other ways. The state spends $100 million a year to buy prescription drugs directly for 37,000 Medicaid beneficiaries in Hawai'i.
An estimated 100,000 other beneficiaries in Hawai'i are covered by other health insurance.
The local director of the senior-citizen advocacy group AARP said the savings will mean enhanced care for people with such ongoing diseases as diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol and asthma. "This is a giant step in the right direction," said Greg Marchildon, state director for AARP. He added "This really is a victory for the taxpayers of Hawai'i."
Yesterday's federal approval allowed Hawai'i and Minnesota to join a pool that included Michigan, Vermont, New Hampshire, Alaska and Nevada since April. By banding together, the states can negotiate lower prices on prescription drugs.
Lingle welcomed Thompson's approval. "By working with the federal government and combining our purchasing power with other states, we are taking another innovative step in helping our residents obtain quality, affordable healthcare," she said.
Koller said the plan calls for states to adopt a list of drugs that doctors should prescribe when treating the low-income Medicaid patients. She said doctors can still choose drugs off that list but have to seek additional approval.
However, Koller and other advocates say such lists don't restrict drugs as much as they provide more clout with the states as bigger buyers to negotiate bigger rebates from pharmaceutical companies that want their drugs to be in the preferred drug lists.
Kolleer said Medicaid patients won't see a change.
"The Medicaid client doesn't pay anything for their drugs," Koller said. "For the individuals, there is no change."
Medicaid is a state/federal partnership that provides healthcare coverage to more than 41 million low-income children, elderly and disabled Americans. In 2003, more than $280 billion was spent on the program, officials estimate.
Koller said the preferred drug list isn't unique to Medicaid patients. She said private medical coverage such as the state's largest health insurer HMSA and Kaiser also have such lists but patients may not realize it because their doctors routinely prescribe drugs on the list.
Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2429.
