Conn., CVS in dispute over discount program

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said Wednesday he has demanded documents from CVS Caremark in a dispute over what he says is the drug retailer's threat to end a consumer discount drug program in the state.

Gov. M. Jodi Rell had asked Blumenthal to investigate, saying CVS could be violating state law and robbing Connecticut consumers of valuable discounts.

Mike DeAngelis, a spokesman for the Woonsocket, R.I., company, said in an e-mail that CVS Health Savings Pass is a voluntary membership program not required by any law. CVS informed the state it may discontinue the program in Connecticut if the state demands access for Medicaid, he said.

"The state's actions would alter the intent of this program and make it economically unfeasible to continue," DeAngelis said.

In a subpoena to CVS, Blumenthal demands that the company provide by July 9 documents backing that statement.

And in a letter to CVS Caremark CEO Thomas M. Ryan, Blumenthal said state officials are concerned that CVS "singled out" Connecticut for elimination of the drug discount program, which he said operates in other states where CVS Caremark does business.

State law enacted this year requires pharmacies to charge Medicaid the lowest drug price offered to consumers and links those prices to savings and discount programs such as the CVS Health Savings Pass program.

"The new law is simply an exercise in fairness, making sure that patients on the taxpayer-funded Medicaid program get the same relief from high drug prices that other customers receive," Rell said.

With the Health Savings Pass program, consumers pay $10 a year to fill a 90-day prescription of one of more than 400 generic drugs at a CVS pharmacy for $9.99, CVS said. The drugs treat conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

Blumenthal, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, also wants details about the number of Connecticut consumers enrolled in the Health Savings Pass program and other states where it is offered and consumer contracts, marketing materials and other documents related to the program.