Georgia's unique Medicaid Rx moves

On July 1, Georgia became the first US state to introduce a Medicaidpreferred drug list for which products are selected based on their clinical merits and prevailing prescribing patterns, rather than simply cost, according to Reuters reports.

Under the new scheme, co-pays charged to Medicaid recipients start at 50 cents for a preferred drug, rising as high as $3 for non-preferred drugs. However, as Centers for Medicare and Medicaid regulations currently permit states to charge up to $3 per prescription for enrollees in these programs, implementation of the new scheme by Georgia's Department of Community Health has required neither new legislation nor a federal waiver.

At the same time as introducing the preferred list, the state has newly implemented a tiered drug benefit for its employees, for whom prescription co-pays now start at $10 for a generic, rising to $20 for preferred products and higher charges for non-preferred products.