After resisting it so hard, the Bushistas better not try to take credit for it
Washington Approves 5-State Pool to Buy Drugs for 900,000 Medicaid Recipients
By ROBERT PEAR
WASHINGTON, April 22 — The Bush administration on Thursday approved plans by five states to pool their purchasing power and seek deeper discounts on prescription drugs for more than 900,000 Medicaid recipients.
The action significantly increases the leverage that states will have in negotiating with drug companies. States have been under intense fiscal pressure in recent years. Medicaid spending and drug costs, in particular, have grown much faster than state revenues.
"This is the first time in the history of the Medicaid program that states have been able to work together like this to negotiate lower drug costs," said Dr. Mark B. McClellan, administrator of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The Department of Health and Human Services said the five states in the pool — Alaska, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire and Vermont — expected to save more than $12 million this year.
Gov. Craig Benson of New Hampshire, a Republican, said, "Minnesota, Hawaii and Tennessee intend to join the pool, with more states likely to follow."
Mr. Benson and Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm of Michigan, a Democrat, announced the project in February 2003.
