By Sharon Salyer
Herald Writer
A Thurston County Superior Court judge’s ruling Friday striking down the state’s AWARDS discount drug buying program could leave 5,000 Washington seniors scrambling to find alternate discount plans.
Judge Richard Strophy ruled that the state doesn’t have the authority to implement the discount drug buying program, which began offering discounts to seniors without prescription drug coverage earlier this year.
Strophy said the program was "a laudable goal,” but wasn’t legal.
The judge is expected to sign an order next week stopping the program.
The state has 30 days to decide whether to appeal the ruling.
Dave Wasser, a spokesman for the Washington State Health Care Authority, which oversees the AWARDS program, said the judge ruled that the state did not have the authority to enter into an agreement with Merck-Medco, a pharmaceutical benefits manager, to administer the program.
The judge’s final order, explaining in detail the reasons for his ruling, won’t be signed until next week, Wasser said.
"Our main concern is to try to minimize the impact for those folks," Wasser said of the 5,000 citizens who signed up for the program.
The state may refund the $15 annual fee these seniors paid to join the program or find another Merck-Medco program "to slide them into," he said.
"We don’t really know; there are several options," Wasser said of what suggestions the state will make to seniors who belong to the plan.
"I hate to be this vague," he added. "I know there’s 5,000 people out there trying to figure out what this means."
Gov. Gary Locke created the program by executive order during his re-election campaign last summer, promising discounts of as much as 49 percent.
It began operating in March. Almost immediately, questions were raised about how much members would actually save over existing plans or senior discounts offered by drug chains.
The AWARDS program was put together "as a means of trying to find a fairly quick way to get seniors that don’t have access to discounts a way to get discounts," Wasser said.
"We’re disappointed," Wasser said of the judge’s ruling.
"We’re going to continue to work the governor’s office to try to find other ways to get some sort of relief for prescription drug costs."
Meanwhile, the head of the Washington State Pharmacists Association, which joined a legal challenge to the state’s discount buying plan, called it "a flawed program … ill-conceived and doomed to fail."
"We truly believe there are very needy seniors in this state in need of drug coverage," said Rod Shafer, executive director of an organization that represents 2,500 Washington pharmacists.
The organization joined a coalition in opposing the plan, because its cost "was borne on the backs of pharmacies" and not other parts of the health care system, such as drug manufacturers, he said.
"What we hope happens now is that this will put the onus back on the Legislature," he said.
But Shafer acknowledged that it is unlikely state lawmakers, who have been so deadlocked on budget issues that they are going back to a second special session, will act quickly on the issue.
"We plan to work with legislators, advocacy groups and the governor’s office to hopefully find an equitable solution to this," he added.
You can call Herald Writer Sharon Salyer at 425-339-3486
or send e-mail to salyer@heraldnet.com.
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