WASHINGTON, March 10, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — As Florida
legislators seek ways to reduce Medicaid spending, they should
start by transitioning the entire pharmacy benefits program from
the archaic fee-for-service model to the more efficient model used
in some parts of the state.

A
recent study finds that the program could save $473 million
over the next decade by modernizing all of its pharmacy benefits
more like those in Medicare and commercial plans. Governors Chris
Christie (R-NJ), Rick Perry (R-TX), and Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) have
already included similar budget proposals to reduce prescription
drug spending in their own states.

“Currently, most of Florida’s Medicaid program uses an archaic
approach to drug benefits that uses fewer generic drugs and pays
more than Medicare and private insurers for pharmacy benefits,”
said Pharmaceutical Care Management Association President and
CEO Mark Merritt. “Over the next decade, Florida could save
$473 million – without cutting benefits or payments to doctor
and hospitals – by modernizing the entire program’s pharmacy
benefits.”

Like most state Medicaid programs, Florida pays too much for
prescription drug benefits because it uses a fee-for-service
approach in which state officials set payment rates and are
therefore constantly lobbied to inflate them by special interests.
To avoid this trap, nearly every other drug benefit program –
like those offered by Medicare, employers and unions – rely
upon independent, third party pharmacy benefit experts to negotiate
competitive rates with pharmacies. These programs also reduce costs
by employing cutting-edge, market-proven strategies to increase the
use of generics. Recent polling finds voters would
rather modernize Medicaid pharmacy than cut benefits for patients
or payments to doctors and hospitals.

Governors Christie, Perry, and Cuomo recently a

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