Colorado House Committee Approves Bill To Lower Medicaid Beneficiaries Prescription Drug Costs by 3%

Main Category: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Article Date: 06 May 2005 - 15:00 PDT

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A Colorado House committee on Monday voted to approve a bill... (HB 1343) that would create a "maximum-allowable-cost" provision in the state Medicaid program to reduce prescription drug costs for Medicaid beneficiaries by about 3%, the Denver Rocky Mountain News reports. Bill sponsor Mark Cloer (R) said the proposal was the only prescription drug bill this legislative session that does not reduce the number of drugs that can be prescribed to Medicaid beneficiaries. Cloer added that the bill would save the state $4 million annually, which would go into a fund to help purchase treatments for seniors with annual incomes lower than $28,000. Pharmacist groups opposed the measure, saying the savings would come out of their pockets. They added that 34 of the 36 other states with similar maximum-allowable-cost provisions reimburse pharmacists at a higher rate than Colorado. They also said that if Colorado pharmacists earn a smaller profit on generic drugs, they will lose the incentive to encourage beneficiaries to take generics drugs instead of brand name drugs (Scanlon, Denver Rocky Mountain News, 5/3).

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