Government
3-state drug purchasing pool gets government OK
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted June 13, 2005
The Dept. of Health and Human Services has approved the second multistate purchasing pool to help Medicaid to bring down prescription drug spending. The new pool will consist of Louisiana, Maryland and West Virginia. Together, the states expect to save more than $60 million through their combined negotiating power.
"The ability to purchase drugs at a lower cost will help the participating states continue to provide critical medications to the millions of low-income citizens who depend on the Medicaid program," said HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt.
The first multistate pool was approved in April 2004. It initially consisted of Alaska, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire and Vermont. They were later joined by Hawaii, Minnesota and Montana.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2005/06/13/gvbf0613.htm.