Law gives California elderly a break on prescription drug prices
Law gives California elderly a break on prescription drug prices
About 1 million elderly California residents are expected to get a break on their prescription drug costs as a result of a law recently approved by the governor.
As a prerequisite for participating in Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program, pharmacies as of Jan. 1 will be able to charge no more than the Medi-Cal price to Medicare beneficiaries without prescription drug coverage. An estimated one-third of California’s Medicare beneficiaries do not have insurance coverage for prescription drugs.
Tough competition among commercial plans has made Medi-Cal, which pays for about 50 million prescriptions a year, the most generous third-party payer for prescription drugs in California, says Carlo Michelotti, RPh, MPH, chief executive officer of the California Pharmacists Association in Sacramento. Overall, the cap means about a 10% reduction in drug costs to those eligible, he says.
The legislation also mandates a study of drug dispensing fees under Medi-Cal, which have not been changed in regulation since 1982.
Pharmacists were divided on the legislation, but Mr. Michelotti is convinced that it will reap long-term benefits for the profession in California. Successful implementation of the discount would illustrate that Medicare drug coverage reform can be accomplished without an Internet-only or mail-order drug benefit, he says.
"The pharmacists of California, reluctantly or otherwise, came to the plate and offered a discount for people, without any government interference, without a means test or anything being set up. When there’s a Medicare national program, that makes California a player and puts California pharmacists at the negotiating table.
"I’m willing to play ball with the expectation that somewhere down the line that we’ll eventually get ours," he says.
Contact Mr. Michelotti at (916) 444-7811.
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