Preferred Drug List Already Saving State $$

None by KCPW

(KCPW News) The Utah Department of Health is reporting a savings of 200-thousand dollars in the first month of implementing a preferred drug list for Medicaid patients. The list allows the state to buying common drugs in bulk. It was projected to save more than two million dollars the first year, but State Senator Allen Christensen says it'll be less than that:

"The projected savings for the first year was $2.8 million," says Christensen, who championed the preferred drug list at the Utah Legislature. "It looks like we'll come up about 1.2 million short of that, but 200,000 in one month? I'm thrilled."

Christensen says the reduced savings are a result of a delay in implementing the preferred drug list. Currently cholesterol drugs are the primary class of medication on the list. State health officials intend to add other types of drugs slowly, and they estimate the long-term savings could reach tens of millions of dollars. That's money that Christensen says will be used to offer other health services for low-income Utahns.

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