{"id":4984,"date":"2011-04-28T09:07:12","date_gmt":"2011-04-28T14:07:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kevinbryant.com\/?p=4984"},"modified":"2011-04-28T09:07:12","modified_gmt":"2011-04-28T14:07:12","slug":"the-state-generic-drugs-in-the-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kevinbryant.com\/kbarchive\/the-state-generic-drugs-in-the-budget\/","title":{"rendered":"The State: generic drugs in the budget"},"content":{"rendered":"

The State: Senate plan touts generic drug use, Health care dominates budget debate<\/a>\u00a0By JOHN O\u2019CONNOR (joconnor@thestate.com<\/a>) Patients in a state-run health care program for the poor and disabled could have to choose lower-cost mental health, cancer and HIV\/AIDS prescriptions, according to a change in the Senate\u2019s proposed state budget adopted Wednesday.
\nBut the Senate voted down a proposal to make state employees pay a greater share of their rising health-insurance premiums. Employees will pay about $6 more a month next year for that insurance. The rejected plan almost would have doubled that increase.
\nHealth care costs dominated the second day of floor debate on the Senate\u2019s $5.8 billion spending plan for the state\u2019s fiscal year that starts July 1.
\nMedicaid patients who already use name-brand drugs would not have to switch from those medications. However, doctors would need to try the lowest-cost drugs \u2013 typically generics \u2013 for new patients as long as those low-cost drugs are as effective as more expensive drugs.
\nThe change will save the state about $991,000 a year, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Some lawmakers said the state should mandate everyone use the least expensive drug in order to save more money.
\nThe bill would require the least expensive option, which could mean a generic or a name-brand drug whose maker offers a rebate or discount.
\nState Sen. Kevin Bryant, R-Anderson, one of three pharmacists in the General Assembly, said he supported requiring Medicaid recipients to use the least expensive drug. Bryant brought a name-brand indigestion drug and the generic equivalent to the Senate well. The generic, he noted, actually was stamped with the more expensive drug\u2019s name.
\nBut advocates said that no generics exist for some mental health, cancer and HIV\/AIDS drugs. Other times, they said, when generics exist, they are not as effective.
\nDepartment of Health and Human Services spokesman Jeff Stensland said the agency does not support requiring prescription changes if they might impact a patient\u2019s health. \u201cWe wouldn\u2019t want to do anything that would disrupt what they are on now.\u201d
\nBut state Sen. David Thomas, R-Greenville, disagreed.
\nDrug companies have been pushing more expensive drugs, he said, often urging their use to treat illnesses for which the drugs were not designed. Some of those drug companies also have defrauded the state and hurt its citizens, he said.
\n\u201cWe\u2019ve got to apply a tourniquet to the bleeding of this state,\u201d Thomas said, urging lawmakers to require the use of generic drugs, a proposal they rejected.
\nLawmakers also rejected a proposal to require state employees to pay more of their health insurance costs.
\nState Sen. Greg Ryberg, R-Aiken, said state employees should pay half the higher cost to the state for health insurance in the next fiscal year, or about $11 a month more. But senators \u2014 mindful that some state employees have not received a pay raise in four years \u2014 rejected Ryberg\u2019s proposal, 24-16.
\nThe Senate will continue its debate of the budget proposal today.
\nReach O\u2019Connor at (803) 771-8358.
\n\u00a9 2011 TheState.com and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http:\/\/www.thestate.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The State: Senate plan touts generic drug use, Health care dominates budget debate\u00a0By JOHN O\u2019CONNOR (joconnor@thestate.com) Patients in a state-run health care program for the poor and disabled could have to choose lower-cost mental health, cancer and HIV\/AIDS prescriptions, according to a change in the Senate\u2019s proposed state budget adopted Wednesday. But the Senate voted […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4984","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2gEQ0-1io","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kevinbryant.com\/kbarchive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kevinbryant.com\/kbarchive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kevinbryant.com\/kbarchive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kevinbryant.com\/kbarchive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kevinbryant.com\/kbarchive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kevinbryant.com\/kbarchive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4984\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kevinbryant.com\/kbarchive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kevinbryant.com\/kbarchive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kevinbryant.com\/kbarchive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}