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County studies feasibility of pharmacy

 

18-Feb-2007: To fight escalating health-care costs, Cumberland County may start its own employee pharmacy.

Officials are studying a similar program in Cleveland County that fills only employee prescriptions. That county, west of Charlotte, buys drugs in large quantities off a state contract and avoids a retail markup.

The pharmacy has reduced Cleveland County's prescription costs by about 50 percent since it opened in 2004, County Manager David Dear said. It's one of a few counties in the state with such a program.

If the idea works here, Cumberland County taxpayers could save more than $1 million a year in employee prescriptions, the cost of which has risen 25percent over three years. The county spent $2.5 million last year on prescriptions.

A committee led by the Cumberland County Health Department is studying the idea and what it would cost to operate. The county would have to hire a pharmacist and find a space.

Eddie Beale, the department's chief financial officer, expects the committee to complete its work this spring.

"It is a concept that is certainly worth pursuing," he said.

Cape Fear Valley Health System has something similar. It opened Valley Pharmacy in the lobby of its main hospital in 2001. About 90 percent of the employees covered by the hospital's insurance use the pharmacy and avoid retail markups. Some discharging patients use the pharmacy, too.

The Cleveland County drugstore is voluntary and provides a list of drugs available at $5 and $20 co-payments for a month's supply. Workers can choose to buy their medicine from the county or go to a private retailer.

"With the savings and the convenience, our employees have taken very well to it," Dear said.

Cumberland County is partially self-insured and pays its own insurance costs up to $150,000 per claim. The N.C. Association of County Commissioners pays claims that exceed that amount and subcontracts with Cigna Insurance to administer the plan.

The county's overall health-care costs are rising much faster, by an annual average of 20 percent. Commissioner John Henley, a doctor, has criticized that growth over the years and has urged the commissioners to consider different providers.

Anything that can reduce costs, even with a county pharmacy, is a welcome idea, Henley said. Some larger companies, he said, have started similar programs and even opened their own clinics to cut costs.

Source: FayObserver.com