April 2001 | States Creating Plans To Reduce Costs for Drugs

By Robert Pear 
23 April 2001 
New York Times Abstracts 
Pg. 1, Col. 3 
English 
c. 2001 New York Times Company

States are methodically creating and expanding programs to help low-income elderly people buy prescription drugs, even as Congress appears to be floundering in efforts to add drug benefits to Medicare; some are using money to pay part of cost of each prescription, have passed laws limiting prices that pharmacies can charge elderly customers and have created tax credits to offset amounts spent on prescriptions; some have created buyers' clubs or purchasing cooperatives to help low-income elderly people obtain discounts; Maine and Vermont have received permission from federal government to use Medicaid programs to provide drug discounts to tens of thousands of elderly and low-income people who would not otherwise qualify for program, and various states in Northeast and South are banding together to negotiate discounts from drug manufacturers; five Northwestern states are considering similar joint efforts; [map]. 

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