Prescription drug bill is a good fit for austere budget
Wednesday, June 4, 2003 8:30 AM PDT
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E-mail this articleThe no-new-taxes budget proposal Washington lawmakers will take up today shouldn't be the final order of business for the 2003 Legislature.
Six working days remain in this 30-day special session. That's ample time for members to move legislation that could make prescription drugs more affordable for tens of thousands of uninsured Washingtonians.
Lawmakers should view the completion of this unfinished business as something of an obligation. The prospect of relief from the high cost of prescription drugs has been dangled in front of Washington residents in each of the previous two years, only to be snatched away shortly before the sessions ended.
It would be a shame to let this charade play out to its disappointing conclusion for a third straight year. It also would be inexcusable.
This prescription drug legislation would fit nicely into the no-new-taxes spending plan now before lawmakers. The benefits it would provide require no new expenditures.
To the contrary, the House version of the legislation -- the more comprehensive and, in our view, preferable bill -- would reduce the state's annual expenditure on prescription drugs. It would save the state an estimated $20 million in drug costs in the first biennium, alone.
The savings for both consumers and the state would come about through the creation of a state preferred drug list, or formulary.
A state formulary involves evaluating all drugs in the same class to determine which are most effective. When two drugs are found to be equally effective, the lower-priced drug is listed as the preferred drug. Prescriptions for people who receive health care through the state automatically would be filled with the preferred drug, unless doctors specifically prescribed the more expensive drug.
The savings realized through this smart-shopping process increase as state agencies pool their buying power and negotiate discounts with drug companies. This pool eventually may be expanded to include businesses, private groups and individuals, extending the cost benefits to most Washington residents.
The pharmaceutical industry is strongly opposed to state formularies and bulk buying pools. Understandably. Discounts mean less profit.
But there's nothing radical about this concept. It's what private health plans have been doing for years to cut their prescription drug costs.
We can think of no reason why the state and uninsured Washingtonians shouldn't enjoy the same cost break. There's still time for lawmakers to provide it this year. We urge them to do so.
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