West Virginia prescription drug program showing growth, success within first three months

West Virginia Rx, a new state-managed prescription drug program that allows uninsured state residents to obtain medications at no cost, is on track to enroll 10,000 people within its first year, the Charleston Gazette reports (Kabler, Charleston Gazette, 7/17).

Uninsured residents between ages 18 and 65 with annual incomes less than 200% of the federal poverty level are eligible to purchase the drugs, which are donated by pharmaceutical companies (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 4/1).

Each resident must pay a $30 annual processing fee.

About 200 people signed up for the program when it was launched, but it has grown quickly through a Web site that allows physicians to enroll patients in about one minute, according to program Director Barbara Dane.

She said the program could fill about 50,000 prescriptions in its first year at an estimated value of $7.5 million.

Dane said the objective of the program is to provide uninsured state residents with an affordable way to get their prescription medications, instead of seeking care at state charity hospitals. She said, "Even a minimal impact promises to save millions of dollars" (Charleston Gazette, 7/17).