And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: posted by Piercing Eyes via FN forwarded for informational purposes only..contents have not been verified... From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Tue, 15 Jun 1999 18:40:47 EDT Subject: Conn. Eyes Indian Tribe Alliance Conn. Eyes Indian Tribe Alliance .c The Associated Press By BRIGITTE GREENBERG With the cost of providing medicines to the poor rising dramatically, the state of Connecticut is considering an unusual alliance with a wealthy Indian tribe which uses its status as a sovereign nation to beat the drug prices of health maintenance organizations and pharmacy chains. The Mashantucket Pequots, who made a fortune in casino gambling, have a side business in called the Pequot Pharmacy Network, which has provided many Connecticut employers and group insurers with prescription drugs since 1991. As a federally recognized tribe, the Pequots have access to a federal pricing schedule for pharmaceuticals that is lower than that offered to health maintenance organizations and local and chain drug stores. ``When we met with the Pequots, they described their purchasing power and ... their ability to attain the lowest possible price,'' said Michael Starkowski, deputy commissioner of the state Department of Social Services. ``They described to us a pricing schedule that would be 40 to 50 percent less than what we would be paying otherwise.'' The state Legislature last week mandated that the department reduce its pharmaceutical expenditures by $21 million. Department officials anticipate a cost of $226 million this year for Medicaid pharmaceuticals. Negotiations between the state and the Pequots could begin in the next few weeks, Starkowski said. The decision would affect about 85,000 elderly and disabled Medicaid patients in the state. The Pequots Pharmaceutical Network currently dispenses more than 1,700 prescriptions per day with the assistance of a robot that handles about 225 of the most commonly prescribed drugs. The network ships out by mail-order about 1,500 prescriptions per day, while about 225 are picked up by tribal members or tribal employees at a pharmacy on the tribe's reservation in Ledyard. Under the proposal, Medicaid patients would still go to a local pharmacy to pick up their prescriptions, but the pharmacists would only get a handling fee because the medicine is actually just shipped to the store from the Pequot Network. State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said Tuesday he is reviewing whether the agreement would be legal. ``There are a slew of legal questions that have to be answered,'' Blumenthal said. Blumenthal said that what concerns him most is the idea that the tribe's sovereignty could allow it to claim immunity for mistakes or other issues of liability in the sale of the pharmaceuticals. However, the tribe already has liability insurance and the Department of Social Services would purchase liability insurance separately to answer such questions, Starkowski said. Mark Grayson, a spokesman for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, an industry group in Washington, D.C., said the state should not have to circumvent manufacturers, pharmacies and HMOs in order to save money and that the deal would give consumers fewer options. ``The state is trying to find some easy out,'' Grayson said. ``It seems to us that it would be better for the state, rather than to try to find a loophole in the law, to work within the existing statutes.'' AP-NY-06-15-99 1840EDT Copyright 1999 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without prior written authority of The Associated Press. Reprinted under the fair use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
