California to maintain paying Walgreens regardless of Gavin Newsom’s order

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California’s Medicaid program will proceed to pay Walgreens about $1.5 billion annually regardless of Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom declaring final month the state was finished doing enterprise with the pharmacy large after it indicated it might not promote abortion drugs by mail in some states.

“California won’t be doing business with @Walgreens — or any company that cowers to the extremists and puts women’s lives at risk. We’re done,” Newsom tweeted March 6.

He then ordered his administration to not renew a $54 million contract with the corporate to offer prescription treatment to the state’s jail system.

But slicing ties with Walgreens wasn’t as clear lower because the governor first indicated. Walgreens has a way more profitable connection to California’s Medicaid program – the joint federal and state medical health insurance program for people who find themselves disabled or have low incomes. Federal legislation says Medicaid sufferers have the suitable to fill prescriptions from any prepared and certified supplier.

That contains Walgreens.

Last yr, California’s Medicaid program paid the corporate greater than $1.5 billion. The California Department of Health Care Services stated California will proceed to adjust to that legislation, Kaiser Health News reported.

“California has no intention of taking any action that would violate federal Medicaid requirements, or that could undermine access for low-income individuals,” stated Tony Cava, spokesman for the California Department of Health Care Services.

Anthony York, spokesman for the governor, additionally instructed Kaiser Health News that the Newsom administration had invited Walgreens to use once more for the $54 million contract the state selected to not renew final month.

“Tweeting is not policy,” York instructed the information outlet.

This will not be the primary time Newsom has made a splashy announcement with out first understanding the entire particulars behind it. At the start of the pandemic, the Newsom administration shortly signed a contract to buy masks and different private protecting gear, irritating some lawmakers who didn’t know the small print.

Newsom’s spat with Walgreens started after the corporate indicated it might not distribute abortion drugs by mail in some conservative states. That tablet, mifepristone, when mixed with one other tablet, will finish a being pregnant. It’s been authorised since 2000 within the U.S. to be used as much as the tenth week of being pregnant. Today, greater than half of all abortions within the U.S. are finished this manner, based on the Guttmacher Institute, a analysis group that helps abortion rights.

Several states have taken steps to limit mifepristone, after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down federal abortion protections final yr. Earlier this yr, attorneys common in 20 states, largely with Republican governors, warned Walgreens it may face authorized penalties if it distributed mifepristone of their states. Walgreens responded by saying it might not distribute mifepristone in states the place it’s not authorized to take action.

On Friday, Walgreens spokesperson Fraser Engerman referred inquiries to Newsom’s workplace. But Engerman reiterated the corporate’s place about abortion drugs.

“Walgreens plans to dispense mifepristone in any jurisdiction where it is legally permissible to do so,” Engerman stated. “Once we are certified by the FDA, we will dispense this medication consistent with federal and state laws. Providing legally approved medications to patients is what pharmacies do, and is rooted in our commitment to the communities in which we operate.”