Louisiana plans to curb Medicaid Rx provision

The Senate Health and Welfare Committee of the US state of Louisiana hasvoted to approve plans to restrict the medications available to the state's Medicaid recipients. Currently, they can receive any approved prescription drug, at a cost to the state of about $500 million a year, a bill which is rising around 15%-18% annually.

A new formulary would slow this rate of growth by $60 million a year, but this would not necessarily list only generics, said the bill's sponsor, Tom Schedler. If a branded drug was dearer than a generic version but had discounts and rebates which cut its price to under that of the generic, it should be on the list, he said, adding that patients should get the drugs they need if they cannot tolerate those on the formulary, reports Reuters.