Friday, September 26, 2003

Medicaid will start drug list (Alabama)
Birmingham News story - "... The Alabama Medicaid Agency, beginning in November, plans to phase in a preferred drug list restricting the medications covered by the plan for low-income people. Medicaid provides a prescription drug benefit for about 450,000 Alabamians. The drug plan would eliminate some brand names, such as Prozac, from coverage in favor of generic medications and other brands. A patient could get a prescription for a drug not on the preferred list if his or her doctor was granted an exception by the state agency. The move would save $50 million a year, $13 million in state money and the rest in federal matching dollars, Medicaid officials said. Representatives of mental health, sickle cell and AIDS groups said during a news conference Thursday that the plan will force people off medications that have worked for them and limit their medication options. "