Title 42
State Affairs and Government

Chapter 66.2.1
Rhode Island Best Rx Prescription Drug Discount Program for the Uninsured

§ 42-66.2.1-6. Administrative fees.

(a) The department of human services and the office of healthy aging shall ensure that administrative fees imposed by means of subsection (b) or (c), are sufficient to cover all expenses related to the management of the discount program, and shall periodically revise any arrangements under this section in order to maximize enrollment and to minimize the price paid by enrollees for prescriptions.

(b) Per-prescription administrative fees paid by the enrollee shall be established as follows: (1) for the first twenty thousand (20,000) prescriptions filled for program beneficiaries, two dollars ($2.00) per prescription; (2) for the next twenty thousand (20,000) prescriptions filled for program beneficiaries, one dollar and fifty cents ($1.50) per prescription; (3) for the next twenty thousand (20,000) prescriptions filled for program beneficiaries, one dollar ($1.00) per prescription; (4) after the initial sixty thousand (60,000) prescriptions are filled, the Rhode Island Best Rx Program Advisory Commission, established in § 42-66.2.1-7, shall advise the department of human services and the office of healthy aging regarding an appropriate per-prescription administrative fee, which shall not exceed one dollar ($1.00) per prescription.

(c) Any authority for the contractor to retain a share of manufacturer rebates to defray administrative expenses shall be subject to a quarterly review and revision based on reconciliation of aggregate rebates received and administrative costs in excess of fees established under subsection (b).

(d) The department of human services and the office of healthy aging shall seek to minimize the diversion of rebates to pay administrative costs, and shall phase out all such use of rebates as soon as feasible, in order to ensure that rebates are passed through to enrollees for whom a drug is prescribed.

(e) Department of human services — Powers.  The department of human services is authorized to promulgate rules and regulations for the administration of this chapter and to further its purposes.