In one of his first official acts, Gov. Bill Ritter on Wednesday signed an executive order establishing a Medicaid discount drug program that has topped the Democratic legislative agenda for years.
Ritter called the action “a very important first step” toward his goal of reforming health care.
In the next few days, he is also expected to sign the second half of the Democrats’ discount drug program – a measure to provide cheaper generic drugs to uninsured Coloradans.
House Majority Leader Alice Madden, D-Boulder, said enactment of the two proposals is something she has been waiting to see for seven years.
“Today we started saving millions of dollars for the state; tomorrow we are going to offer over 260,000 uninsured Coloradans access to discount drugs,” she said.
Standing with Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald, D-Golden; Senate Health and Humans Services Committee chairman Bob Hagedorn, D-Aurora; Madden; and others, the governor officially ordered the state to buy prescription drugs in bulk for Medicaid patients from a multi-state drug- purchasing pool.
Ritter said the resulting volume discounts will save the state at least $1.6 million a year on its $99 million prescription drug bill.
Republicans criticized the governor for bypassing the legislature and “unilaterally” making such a significant change.
“The preferred drug list affects the way the state approaches health care for our most vulnerable citizens, and this policy shift deserves the public debate that the legislative process provides,” Assistant House Republican Leader David Balmer, of Centennial, said in a statement.
Ritter defended his action, noting the legislature has twice passed it.
To join the pool, the state must adopt a prescription drug list that limits what drugs can be purchased. The pharmaceutical lobby has helped defeat similar proposals in each of the past three years, arguing that the preferred- drug roster hurts patients who depend on unlisted drugs.
Ritter vowed to make sure that the process for developing the list is open and that the committee appointed to develop and oversee the list is inclusive.
Today, the House is expected to give final approval to a separate bill by Madden and Hagedorn giving the state authority to negotiate the best possible prices on generic drugs for uninsured Coloradans who make too much to qualify for Medicaid.
Capitol Bureau chief Jeri Clausing can be reached at 303-954-1555 or jclausing@denverpost.com.
