I soon plan to introduce legislation to address a growing problem in Pennsylvania’s workers compensation system - excessive reimbursement rates for prescription topical drugs that are essentially versions of readily available over-the-counter drugs.
 
The Pennsylvania Workers Compensation Advisory Council, which includes representatives of business, labor and the legal community, recently shared information produced by the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) with the General Assembly that brought attention to this problem. WCRI is a nationally recognized, independent organization that provides objective data on state workers’ compensation systems.
 
Among the 28 study states included in the report, Pennsylvania had:
 

• The highest share of prescription reimbursements for topical drugs (referred to as dermatological agents in the report).
   
• The highest average quarterly payments for topical drugs (over $500/quarter), joining Louisiana as significant outliers with average quarterly payments more than double any other study states.

 
Many of these prescriptions are variations of topical drugs that can be purchased over the counter at your neighborhood pharmacy or grocery store but are being reimbursed for thousands of dollars per tube or box of patches.
 
This legislation will address the problem in several ways:
 

• Alter the reimbursement calculation for topical drugs and set maximum reimbursement rates for all topical drugs and compound drugs.
   
• Calculate reimbursement for compound drugs, including topical drugs, on a per ingredient basis.
   
• And for those compound drugs, including topical drugs, that are essentially copies of commercially available products, prohibit reimbursement altogether.
   

These provisions are common in other state workers’ compensation laws and have proven successful in keeping costs reasonable without limiting access to effective treatment for injured workers.
 
Please join me in co-sponsoring this important legislation.