THE proposed changes in the Group Health Life Plan rules and regulations would reduce the cost of drug prescriptions on island, according to Hawaii Pacific Medical Referrals.
The firm will present the proposed changes on June 1 to Retirement Fund board members. There will be a 30-day comment period prior to their implementation on July 1.
Arnold M. Baptiste, president and CEO of HPMR, told the Variety that the new rules and regulation would reduce the cost of drug prescriptions between $30,000 to $50,000 monthly.
HPMR, as third party administrator, was tasked to review and make changes in the Group Health rules and regulations after they were awarded the contract to process claims by commonwealth patients on Sept. 1, 2000.
Baptiste said their would be “significant changes” in reimbursements. He said their review revealed that most prescriptions were for brand name drugs.
“We need to have a formula in place so we reverse the trend and have more generic drugs prescribed by physicians,” Baptiste said.
He said HPMR would inform government officials, commonwealth physicians and Group Health Life Plan members about the proposed changes and make them aware of their benefits.
“I do expect them to react to it very positively,” Baptiste said. “It is an important step for us to do. It is kind of a complicated thing, but it is really important in order to reduce costs,” he said.
