National Health Policy Forum

Forum Session

Date: JUNE 17, 2003
Title: Medicaid Prescription Drug Coverage: State Efforts to Control Costs
Manager: Dawn M. Gencarelli
Summary: This meeting explored the many different strategies—such as preferred drug lists/formularies, disease management, supplemental rebates, and purchasing pools—being used by states to control their Medicaid prescription drug spending. Speakers examined the effectiveness of these strategies and the challenges they present. They highlighted the experiences of their individual states, Oklahoma, Georgia, and Minnesota, including positive results and unintended consequences. The May 2003 U.S. Supreme Court decision on the Maine prescription drug program and its potential impact on other states were discussed.
Speakers: Lynn Mitchell, MD, MPH, State Medicaid Director, Oklahoma Health Care Authority; Mark D. Trail, Chief, Medical Assistance Plans, Georgia Department of Community Health; James M. Verdier, Senior Fellow, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.; Cody Wiberg, PharmD, RPh, Pharmacy Program Manager, Minnesota Department of Human Services
Related
Materials:
More information available in the accompanying publication, Issue Brief No. 790.