BENTONVILLE, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores here, along with Walgreens, Deerfield, Ind., won a lawsuit filed against the state of Arkansas and its Department of Human Services for instituting a Medicaid policy that reimbursed chain pharmacies at a lower rate than independents, according to published news media reports.
d U.S. District Judge G. Thomas Eisele, who issued a permanent injunction against the policy that went into effect April 28.
Under the policy, chains with 11 or more stores were paid an estimated cost of the average wholesale prescription price minus 17.3%. Pharmacies with fewer than 11 stores were paid the average price minus 10.3%.
Wal-Mart, which operates 86 pharmacies in Arkansas, said the lower reimbursements would cost about $1 million a year. Walgreens, which has 13 Arkansas stores, had threatened to pull out of the Medicaid program rather than accept a lower reimbursement. The state argued that similar programs are in place in Texas, Washington and Michigan and the rate was in line with discounts that large pharmacy chains give private insurers. It also said the system protected smaller pharmacies and independent stores that offer costly deliveries. The state is considering an appeal on the ruling, according to a spokesman for the Department of Human Services.
The Arkansas policy was expected to save up to $4.5 million. Medicaid expects to spend $200 million this year on prescription drugs for Arkansas, up from $169 million last year. About 300,000 Arkansans, 15% of the population, received prescription benefits under the program.
