Overview of the New York State program for prescription drug benefits.

New York State's prescription drug benefits program is described. The Empire Plan, a part of the New York State Health Insurance Program, includes a prescription drug benefits program. The prescription drug program began in 1986 and covers more than 700,000 people. In 1988 the state started a therapeutic drug-use-evaluation (DUE) program in correct with the supplier, Health Information Designs, a subsidiary of ValueRx Pharmacy Program. In 1991 the partnership with ValueRx was expanded to include patient profilling and physician education. In 1993 the state implemented a prior-authorization program for certain high-technology drugs, also administered by ValueRx. New York's public work force is heavily unionized, and the unions have been deeply involved in program design and vendor selection. Program participants have access to a large network of community pharmacies. The program also provides mail-order service. Quality is at the center of the state's and the unions' prescription drug program philosophy. Saving money is also a major objective; savings totaling $19.5 million were realized from 1988 through 1993 under the partnership between the state and ValueRx. The Empire Plan's prescription drug benefits program is building quality and saving money by integrating DUE, prior authorization, education, community pharmacy, and mail-order service.

Managing prescription drug costs: a case study.

Pharmacy costs in most private insurance companies and public concerns have risen over the past several years. To address the problem of increased expenditures in its government employee pharmacy program, the State of New York sought bids from outside vendors to help it control pharmaceutical costs. The following is a case study of the tools the state employed in that effort. Over time, both prescription drug coverage and mental health and substance abuse benefits were carved out of the medical plan and are now provided under free-standing programs. In order to participate, an independent pharmacy must accept a discount of 10% off the average wholesale price of brand name drugs and 25% off the average generic price of generic drugs.