Officials acknowledge ongoing problems with retiree mail-order pharmacy; contract expires next year

Senators told the Fiscal Committee on Oct. 17 that retirees continue to face problems with the mail-order pharmacy tied to the state retiree health plan. Senator Rosenwald said retirees report missing medication history when logging in and difficulty completing refills with the current vendor.

Charlie Arlinghaus, commissioner of the Department of Administrative Services, said the implementation was difficult and praised the Retiree Health Benefits office for its ongoing work. Joyce Pittman of the Retiree Health Benefits office explained that the new Carillon Rx system (the vendor named in the transcript) differs from the prior vendor in two ways: 1) the system removes prescriptions from a user's online dashboard when they are not currently available for refill, and 2) annual prescription renewals require renewed provider authorization, which can cause some prescriptions to disappear from the online dashboard until providers reauthorize them. That behavior creates confusion for retirees who previously saw long histories under the old vendor and expect items to remain visible on the site.

Pittman said the plan's MAPD contract (the Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug contract) expires in one year; when the state goes back out to bid the retiree population of about 11,000 members could be moved to a different carrier with a new website and new implementation issues. She said the Retiree Health Benefits office and department staff continue to work with the vendor to resolve issues and that many problems are improving, though some challenges remain. Committee members requested follow-up meetings with staff to discuss individual cases and for the department to continue pressing the vendor for fixes.

The committee adopted the Department of Administrative Services item (25-2-51) after the discussion.