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medpundit |
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Saturday, September 07, 2002PhRMA argues that federal laws (e.g., the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990) requires states establishing a preferred drug list to include all drugs of manufacturers who participate in Medicaid unless the drugs are excluded for clinical reasons. The states' new cost containment programs exclude drugs solely or almost solely based on price. That is what PhRMA argues is prohibited by federal law. If PhRMA's legal case is so flimsy, why did the U.S. Supreme Court agree to review PhRMA's challenge against Maine's prior authorization program? If this is the law, which it apparently is, then the law is an ass, and it only goes to show how influential PhRMA is with our congressional leaders who make those laws. Fortunately, laws can be changed, and this one should be. It makes no sense to allow commercial healthcare insurance to choose drugs based on price and bar state-sponsored insurance programs from doing the same. posted by Sydney on 9/07/2002 10:27:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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