HELENA – Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer is making another run at getting cheap prescription drugs for everyone in his state — and trying to make it harder for the federal government to say no.
Schweitzer announced Tuesday that he wants to let everyone in Montana buy drugs at the ultra-cheap rate the government pays through Medicaid. He said it is far less expensive than the price for those on Medicare or private insurance plans.
Schweitzer said almost all Montanans would save money by buying drugs at cost through his proposed Medicaid program, which he said gets the drugs at about half the retail price.
It is the governor’s latest attempt to get a waiver from the federal government to buy cheap medicine. He said this plan would cost the government nothing — and could even save it money.
Schweitzer said only the big drug companies would lose.
“It doesn’t cost the citizens of Montana a dime, and it doesn’t cost the federal government a dime,” Schweitzer said.
Schweitzer said the federal government can get cheap drug prices for Medicaid in a way it is not allowed to do for Medicare prescription drug programs. He said he got a copy of a highly confidential Medicaid drug price list that he doesn’t believe any other governor has seen.
Schweitzer said it is obviously unfair to charge one group of people far less than another group of people for the same product. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told him she was “intrigued” by the idea, he added.
Sebelius’ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment on the proposal.
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America declined to comment until it could look into the plan.
Schweitzer pointed out that even Medicare users in Montana, who get government subsidies to buy prescriptions at a higher cost than Medicaid pays, would want to switch to his new proposal.
The governor said such a move would save the federal government millions in Montana alone. The state could also save money by directing its employees to the Medicaid program, he argued.
“I don’t think we are going to get turned down,” Schweitzer said.
Schweitzer has been putting a spotlight on the money the pharmaceutical industry makes by charging more in the United States for its products. He said Congress is partly to blame, and he wants to point that out with his latest request.
Schweitzer’s other plans to get federal approval to bring in cheaper drugs from Canada and to buy cheaper medicine given to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs have been shot down. He called the drug industry “full of crap” for previously arguing that the medicine bought in Canada isn’t safe for consumption in the United States.