Uninsured can join drug discount plan
07-Dec-2006: Thousands of uninsured Oregonians become eligible today for the state's expanded prescription drug discount program, passed overwhelmingly by voters last month.
Any Oregonian who lacks prescription-drug coverage can enroll in the plan, which offers discounts of up to 60 percent on some drugs.
A ballot measure adopted by a 78 percent majority wipes out eligibility restrictions that had kept the drug discount program small. Enrollment before the election had reached about 4,000 individuals.
Measure 44 makes the discounts available to anyone without prescription drug coverage, regardless of age or income, including 600,000 uninsured Oregonians.
The more people who join the program, the more clout the state has in negotiating lower prices -- in the form of a volume discount -- from drug companies.
To further enlarge the purchasing pool, Oregon and Washington have formed the Northwest Prescription Drug Consortium, announced in July by Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski and Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire.
By showing an ID card to their pharmacist, enrollees can get discounts averaging 30 percent on generic drugs and 15 percent on brand name drugs.
The campaign to expand the drug discount program was led by Kulongoski, AARP Oregon and a union-backed coalition of health insurance advocates.
The pharmaceutical industry did not formally endorse or oppose Measure 44. Drug makers point to the industry's voluntary patient assistance programs that they say have helped 35,000 uninsured and low-income Oregonians get medicine for free or at sharp discounts.
The state does not purchase the drugs directly. Instead, it contracts with an agent called a pharmacy benefits administrator to negotiate with drug companies for rebates, based on the pool of buyers. Most insurance companies use that approach to negotiate drug prices for the groups they cover.
The state also negotiates with pharmacists. About 90 percent of the pharmacies participate, offering discounts to cardholders.
Source: Dover-Sherborn Press
