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Interim session proved to be very busy and productive
[Sep-17-2006]
Bob Kiss
The Register-Herald
Last week, the West Virginia Legislature completed its monthly three-day interim session, which proved to be a very busy and productive one. During the meetings I attended, several issues that I have mentioned in this column were addressed.
n In a previous column, I explained the money follows the person concept and the fact that it appears there is some question as to whether the state Department of Health and Human Resources planned to pursue a federal grant that would provide funding for in-home care, and therefore allow as many as 200 people to move out of nursing homes.
In addition, the joint Legislative Oversight Commission on Health and Human Resources Accountability learned that several hundred people who previously qualified for the states Aged and Disabled Waiver program which is intended to help people receive care in their own homes, rather than entering nursing homes are now being disqualified. Department officials that oversee the state Medicaid program were called before the committee to explain why so many more people were being disqualified.
Unfortunately, Medicaid and Department of Health and Human Resources officials said they could not explain the apparent change because a group of people being affected have filed a lawsuit against the state.
An attorney representing Medicaid and DHHR said she believes the lawsuit will be resolved quickly. I certainly hope so, because the Legislature appropriates the money for the Aged and Disabled Waiver program, not to mention Medicaid and DHHR. Members are entitled to a thorough, and speedy, explanation.
For several months, I sought an explanation as to why the Pharmaceutical Cost Management Council had decided not to seek several disclosure requirements of drug companies, such as expenditures on pharmaceutical sales representatives, and gifts or payments to physicians.
While co-chairing the Joint Committee on Government and Finance, I previously asked whether the council based its decision not to seek such valuable information on a specific legal opinion. Due to a misunderstanding, the answer to my question was delayed. I was finally told during the meeting last week that the Pharmaceutical Cost Management Council did not base its decision on a formal legal opinion, but members believed they did not have the authority to seek such information.
This clears the way for the Legislative Rule-Making Review Committee to take further steps during the 2007 session to toughen the disclosure requirements. The intent behind the 2004 Pharmaceutical Availability and Affordability Act was to seek lower prescription drug prices for all West Virginians. In doing so, the council is expected to base its price negotiations on the how much drug companies must spend to research, develop, manufacture and distribute the drugs, irrespective of marketing and advertising costs that are not justified or necessary.
Citizens are being asked to pay far too much for essential prescription drugs, and their money should not be paying for marketing and advertising, unless it provides for a societal health care benefit. The Legislature was attempting to reduce the cost of drugs by restricting marketing and advertising costs unless they were a type of marketing or advertising that improve access to necessary drugs or improve the health care delivery system, as opposed to a marketing strategy to promote designer drugs.
Also during the Joint Committee on Government and Finance meeting, we learned that only 24 county courthouses are insured through the state Board of Risk and Insurance Management, and most of them are severely under-insured. It is unclear whether the remaining 31 county courthouses are properly insured through private companies.
This was brought to light following the fire last month that destroyed the Morgan County Courthouse in the Eastern Panhandle. While it will take between $10 million and $12 million to replace the building, which is the central hub of the county, the building was insured for only $2 million. At least 13 county courthouses around the state are insured for $3 million or less.
I was pleased to discover that Raleigh County is not among the unprepared our courthouse is insured for around $20 million.
Contact House Speaker Kiss, D-Raleigh, by phone: (304) 340-3210; by writing: Office of the Speaker, Room M-228, Building 1, Capitol Complex, Charleston, WV 25305; or by e-mail: castor@mail.wvnet.edu
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