Utah Saving Money By Sending State Employees to Mexico for Prescriptions

Ten Utah state employees are regularly traveling to Mexico to buy cheaper medications as part of a state-run pilot program. One of the program’s participants, a teacher named Ann Lovell, explained that the state’s insurance program for public employees pays for her to fly from Salt Lake City to San Diego, where she is then escorted across the border to Tijuana to pick up her rheumatoid arthritis medication. She said that she would not be able to afford the copay for her prescription without the program. “This is the drug that keeps me functioning, working. I think if I wasn’t on this drug ... I’d be on disability rather than living my normal life,” she said. So far, the program has saved the state about $225,000, but if it expands some estimates say it could save the state close to $1 million. Fewer than 400 state employees are eligible for the program, which is for people who use one of about a dozen medications that typically cost 40% to 60% less in Mexico. Chet Loftis, the managing director of the public employee health program said that even with the cost of flights, the state still saves a significant amount. Peter Maybarduk, of the advocacy group Public Citizen, cautioned that people may be getting unsafe medication in Mexico. “It is a Band-Aid for people who really need it. We need reform of the system as a whole,” he said. Paulo Yberri, the CEO of Hospital Angeles, where Utah employees get their medication, said that those who travel to Mexico to buy medications should be careful. “Buy straight from the pharmacy. Make sure it’s a well-established pharmacy, that you can see all the appropriate permits, that it’s a formal business place. I wouldn’t be pulled into a dark basement to get medications. But if you’re going to a well-established business, it’s regulated,” Yberri said. [Associated Press; Salt Lake Tribune]

NEW LOTTERY | Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy introduced legislation last week that would create a statewide lottery. His bill would create the Alaska Lottery Corporation, an independent public corporation that would run the lottery. Alaska is one of only five states without any form of a state lottery, and Dunleavy believes it could help fill the state’s $1.5 billion deficit. “In the face of low state revenues, my administration has been actively seeking new revenue sources to diversify our economy. Not only does this legislation have the potential of creating new business opportunities, the profits generated from lottery activities will be designated to K-12 education, domestic violence prevention programs, drug abuse prevention programs, foster care, and homelessness,” he said. Democratic state Sen. Jesse Kiehl said that the program would be detrimental to those with gambling addictions and poor residents in the state. "Ringing more cash from the poorest Alaskans is not the way to get to sustainable growth for our future," he said. [KTUU; KTVA]

PORNOGRAPHY | A lawmaker in Utah wants pornography to come with a warning label saying that minors can be harmed by seeing the content. Republican state Rep. Brady Brammer wants the warning to say that pornography “is known to the state of Utah to cause negative impacts to brain development, emotional development and the ability to maintain intimate relationships” and that “such exposure may lead to harmful and addictive sexual behavior, low self-esteem, and the improper objectification of and sexual violence towards others, among numerous other harms.” His legislation would require print publications to include the label and digital ones to display it for 15 seconds before a video starts, or else face a $2,500 fine. Individual citizens could report companies who fail to comply in exchange for a piece of the payment. The pornography website Xhamster mocked the bill with a new label on its content reading that “porn may lead to decreased stress, increased happiness, and lower rates of teen pregnancy.” Alex Hawkins, vice president of Xhamster, said that “this isn’t the first time that we’ve had to deal with ignorance and fearmongering in the Utah government around sex.” [Associated Press; Salt Lake Tribune]

TAX-FREE TAMPONS | Tampons may be added to the list of back-to-school items that can be purchased tax-free in Tennessee during a weekend in July. Other goods, like clothing items and electronics, are already on the list. Republican state Sen. Joey Hensley raised concerns that making tampons tax-free would lead to a loss of tax revenue if people bought them in bulk. “There’s really no limit on the number of items somebody can purchase. I don’t know how you would limit the number of items someone could purchase,” he said. Democratic state Sen. Sara Kyle said that some girls miss school because they can’t afford tampons. “I would hope they would buy as much as they can, but in the first place they don’t have these types of funds or they wouldn’t be asking for this type of effort,” she said. [Washington Post]

ASSISTED SUICIDE | A bill in Iowa would legalize drug-assisted suicide for terminally ill adults with six months or less to live. The legislation is modeled after Oregon’s Death With Dignity Act, which has been law for more than two decades. Nine states have similar laws. [WHO 13; CNN]