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September 28, 2007

State delays new Medicaid co-payments

PROVIDENCE – The state has delayed plans to ask 14,000 impoverished Medicaid recipients to pay a portion of their prescription drug costs.

The policy, enacted as part of the state budget passed by the General Assembly this spring, was set to begin Monday. It would have required $1 and $3 co-payments for generic and brand name medications, respectively.

The new fee structure has been put on hold until Dec. 1 because of federal objections to state regulations associated with the new policy.

The decision has nothing to do with an outcry from social welfare advocates at a public hearing earlier in the month, Department of Human Services Director Gary Alexander said today.

He did not immediately know how the delay would affect the $600,000 in revenue projected from the fees.

Several people testified that the copays unfairly target those least able to afford them, especially those on several medications and those with sick children. Fee-for-service Medicaid recipients affected by the new co-pays are generally adults under the age of 65 suffering from disabilities. Most live on monthly incomes fixed at $680.

-- Steve Peoples, Journal State House Bureau

Posted by Steve Peoples  at 4:57 PM | Permalink

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