Mass. Drugstore Chains Drop Medicaid

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Mass. Drugstore Chains Drop Medicaid

By JENNIFER PETER
.c The Associated Press

BOSTON (AP) - Acting Gov. Jane Swift urged the three largest drugstore chains in Massachusetts to reconsider their decision to withdraw from the state's Medicaid program.

CVS, Walgreens and Brooks Pharmacy have announced plans to stop filling Medicaid prescriptions, meaning poor and disabled people could soon be shut out of more than half the state's pharmacies.

Swift said Wednesday that her administration is exploring legal options to force the companies to stay in the Medicaid program.

``This is a good time for a little corporate responsibility,'' Swift said. She asked citizens ``to join me in pleading with these multibillion-dollar corporations who have done business profitably in the commonwealth for many years in not abandoning our neediest citizens.''

The chains said they will withdraw from the assistance program because of state budget cuts signed into law Monday that reduce reimbursement rates for Medicaid prescriptions by 11 percent.

Altogether, the three chains operate 555 of the state's 1,014 drugstores and fill 60 percent of the prescriptions to the 900,000 Medicaid recipients in Massachusetts.

Walgreens said it will wait until Aug. 31 to stop filling prescriptions so Medicaid customers have enough time to find alternatives. Neither CVS nor Brooks has announced a withdrawal date.

Swift said she has asked the state attorney general ``to join us in pursuing some good corporate responsibility.'' The attorney general's office had no immediate comment on what legal options the state might have.

With the state budget saddled with a $2.4 billion decline in revenue, legislators cut the reimbursement rate to save $60 million. Swift signed the budget Monday.

While states across the country have tried to save money by reducing the Medicaid pharmacy reimbursement rate, this is the first time the cuts have prompted large chains to withdraw from the program, according to the National Association of Chain Drug Stores.

``This rate ... puts Massachusetts dead last in reimbursement among the Medicaid programs we participate in,'' Walgreens spokesman Michael Polzin said. ``We are developing a timeline to withdraw. If the rate is restored in the meantime, we'll reconsider it.''



08/01/02 05:31 EDT