Empire Plan to launch specialty
pharmacy program for certain drugs
By DEBORAH STAYMAN specialize in specific needs a new prescription,
Do you or a covered dependent take diseases, nurses to Accredo will be notified and
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one or more high-cost prescription assist with side-effect it will contact the patient to
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medicines requiring special handling, lab and compliance schedule delivery of the drug
tests and nursing services for illnesses management, around- to the home or the doctor’s
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such as rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, the-clock call centers, office via express courier.
psoriasis, multiple sclerosis or and coordination of By March, a list of the
hemophilia? infusion and home medications included in the
If you do and you’re covered by the health services. program, will be posted
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Empire Plan, then you likely will Empire Plan online at
participate in the new Specialty Pharmacy enrollees who use one www.cs.state.ny.us. On the
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Program starting April 1. or more of these drugs were notified by site, select Benefit Programs, then select
In fact, if you get your specialty letter of the program in February. New NYSHIP Online and, if prompted, choose
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medications from a retail pharmacy you enrollees will be identified via weekly your group, The Empire Plan, and then
will be enrolled automatically in the pharmacy claims. Health Benefits.
Specialty Pharmacy Program. Each enrollee may fill a targeted drug If you have questions about the
The program, which is administered by once at a retail pharmacy. The enrollee Specialty Pharmacy Program, call the
Medco subsidiary Accredo, will coordinate will then receive a letter explaining the Empire Plan Prescription Drug Program
care between a doctor and patient by Specialty Pharmacy Program and a at 1-877-7-NYSHIP (1-877-769-7447) and
making available pharmacists who follow-up phone call. When the enrollee select option 4.
“In order to improve the state’s
transportation system, ease the burden on
drivers, and kick start New York’s
economy, transportation investment must
be a priority at the state and federal levels,”
said Will Wilkins, executive director of
TRIP.
TRIP found New York State faces a
transportation funding shortfall of
approximately $87 billion from 2010 to
2030. Closing that gap will be all the
harder because 49 percent of the revenue
going into the New York State Highway and
Bridge Dedicated Trust Fund is currently
being used to pay off debt. By 2013, debt
service is expected to consume 72 percent
of the fund’s revenues.
TRIP also noted state transportation
funds meant to make needed road and
By SHERRY HALBROOK the state and federal government to make bridge improvements are increasingly
It’s a good thing President Obama has funding for transportation a high priority diverted for other needs.
said he wants to invest more federal even in these austere times. For PEF From 1993-94 to 2008-09, just 35
stimulus money in roads and bridges, leaders the message was familiar. percent of disbursements from the NYS
because their deterioration takes a toll on “For years, we’ve been calling on state Highway and Bridge Dedicated Trust Fund
our cars, our time and our pocketbooks and federal budgetmakers to adequately were spent on repairing and improving the
according to a national transportation fund road and bridge improvements,” said state’s roads and bridges, and by 2013, it’s
organization based in Washington, DC. PEF President Ken Brynien. “The growth of expected to drop to 21 percent.
TRIP released a report in January that our New York economy depends on this “As TRIP has discovered, neglecting our
found Albany drivers lose an average of vital infrastructure. state’s infrastructure hurts our economy
$1,145 annually by “driving on roads that “However, the key to maintaining high and costs us personally as motorists,”
lack some desirable safety features, have standards in this area, is to use the Brynien said. “PEF will keep pressing our
poor pavement conditions or have available tax dollars judiciously. The state leaders to recognize the value of investing
inadequate capacity to meet travel cannot afford to waste the limited funds it in the state work force, state services and
demands.” Statewide, they cost New York has on high priced private consultants, the state infrastructure. These are the
motorists $16.4 billion. when it could and should use state investments that pay off in better lives for
The TRIP report, “Future Mobility in engineers, inspectors and other all New Yorkers, now and in the future.”
New York: Meeting the State’s Need for professional staff to do the work for far less
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PEFInformationLine:1-800-553-2445
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