Report to state legislature deems 'white bagging' unsafe
Jul. 1—A report to the Indiana Legislative Council on Thursday — from multiple state agencies — gives reasons why the practice of white bagging is a safety risk for patients, according to a press release from Hoosiers for Safe Meds.
White bagging is a health insurance policy requiring hospitals and clinics to use insurance-approved formulary pharmacies for specialty medications instead of the health care providers using their own pharmacies and labs.
The specialty medications are formulated for individual patients' needs in place of mass-produced medications.
On April 1, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield Indiana — the state's largest health insurer — began requiring Indiana hospitals to use the formulary pharmacies for chemotherapy.
At Logansport Memorial Hospital, the eight cancer patients affected by the new policy did not receive their chemotherapy drugs in time for their appointments, said Perry Gay, President and CEO of LMH, on April 26.
Thursday's report was made by the Indiana Department of Health along with the Indiana Board of Pharmacy, Indiana Department of Insurance and the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration.
It's based on the recent effects of white bagging in Indiana.
Toward the end of the 2021 legislative session in April, the Indiana General Assembly required those agencies to create the report after legislators heard testimony from patients and health care providers about white bagging risks.
House Enrolled Act 1405 required the report to be submitted on July 1.
According to Hoosiers for Safe Meds, "a growing number of states have recently passed legislation or have taken administrative action to regulate the practice, including Louisiana, who passed a law last month banning health insurance companies from requiring drugs to be white bagged."
Reach James D. Wolf Jr. at james.wolf@pharostribune.com or 574-732-5117
Twitter @JamesDWolfJr
