1 South Carolina General Assembly 2 115th Session, 2003-2004 3 4 S. 380 5 6 STATUS INFORMATION 7 8 General Bill 9 Sponsors: Senator Reese 10 Document Path: l:\council\bills\nbd\11245ac03.doc 11 Companion/Similar bill(s): 317 12 13 Introduced in the Senate on February 18, 2003 14 Currently residing in the Senate Committee on Medical Affairs 15 16 Summary: Interstate bulk prescription plan established 17 18 19 HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS 20 21 Date Body Action Description with journal page number 22 2/18/2003 Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-7 23 2/18/2003 Senate Referred to Committee on Medical Affairs SJ-7 24 25 26 VERSIONS OF THIS BILL 27 28 2/18/2003 29 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A BILL 10 11 TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 12 1976, BY ADDING ARTICLE 5 TO CHAPTER 6, TITLE 44 SO 13 AS TO CREATE THE INTERSTATE BULK PRESCRIPTION 14 DRUG PROGRAM WITH NEIGHBORING STATES TO 15 PROVIDE PRESCRIPTION DRUGS AT A REDUCED COST 16 TO SENIOR AND DISABLED RESIDENTS WHO DO NOT 17 HAVE PRESCRIPTION DRUG COVERAGE. 18 19 Whereas, tens of thousands of senior and disabled South 20 Carolinians have no prescription drug insurance coverage and are 21 unable to keep pace with the skyrocketing cost of prescription 22 drugs which are rising at the rate of twenty percent, or more, 23 annually; and 24 25 Whereas, many thousands of other senior and disabled South 26 Carolinians are losing their employer-provided health insurance 27 coverage as soon as they reach sixty-five years of age and become 28 eligible for Medicare coverage; and 29 30 Whereas, still many hundreds of South Carolinians are seeing their 31 deductibles double, and their health insurance premiums triple, 32 mainly because of the rapidly increasing cost of prescription drugs; 33 and 34 35 Whereas, joining with neighboring states to form a bulk buying 36 program for prescription drugs would provide South Carolina’s 37 seniors and disabled residents without prescription coverage a 38 resource for obtaining prescription drugs at a reduced cost. Now, 39 therefore, 40 41 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South 42 Carolina:

1 [380] 1 1 2 SECTION 1. Chapter 6, Title 44 of the 1976 Code is amended by 3 adding: 4 5 “Article 5 6 7 Interstate Bulk Prescription Drug Program 8 9 Section 44-6-610. There is created the Interstate Bulk 10 Prescription Drug Program to be implemented by the Department 11 of Health and Human Services. This program shall provide 12 prescription drugs at a reduced cost to residents age sixty-five or 13 older or disabled who do not have prescription drug coverage. In 14 implementing this program the department shall: 15 (1) negotiate with pharmaceutical companies to purchase 16 prescription drugs in bulk at reduced costs; 17 (2) develop interstate agreements with neighboring states to 18 participate in this program; and 19 (3) promulgate regulations to implement the provisions of this 20 article including, but not limited to, eligibility requirements for 21 program participation.” 22 23 SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the 24 Governor. 25 ----XX---- 26

1 [380] 2