Before the Joint Committee on Health Care
Financing
The MMS strongly supports electronic prescription and medical
record systems that are free from advertizing and promotional
information. We support standards that require information to be
evidence based and consistent with standards of care. We support
the prompt initiation and efficient administration of any prior
authorization programs payers may use. We support all these
elements of S 483.
The MMS supports the sharing of formulary information with
prescribers. We oppose any efforts to not show information
regarding a payor's formulary, co-payment, or benefit plan. The MMS
has worked for many years to help disseminate formulary information
to physicians. It is not because we support formularies, we don't,
unless they are evidence driven rather than economically driven.
However, if a patient's insurance does not cover a particular drug,
it is better for the patient and the physician to know this at the
time the prescription is written.
This legislation does not prohibit formularies or require
pharmacies to dispense all prescriptions and payers to cover all
prescriptions. Since formularies exist, it is better for
prescribers to know that fact and immediately initiate efforts to
obtain coverage for medically necessary exceptions to the formulary
rather than to begin the process after coverage is denied to the
patient at the pharmacy.
The MMS supports S 483 in the hopes that it will facilitate
efficient and improved prescribing.
