When one thinks of Utah, they think of magic underwear, quirky liquor laws, people that say “oh my heck,” and its only redemption is excellent skiing. It’s also one of the reddest of red states that has that very bizarre red state mentality on healthcare.  Well, you would be correct if you thought that Utah might be odd when it comes to insurance plans.

PEHP, the state insurance plan, decided instead of paying high prices for medications, they would send their members to Mexico or Canada to obtain those meds, and to incentivize them, they even give them $500 towards their travel. Wait; what?

From Vox:

Today, the Utah insurer is saving hundreds of thousands of dollars a year on drugs for a handful of patients who need expensive medicines and make the trip abroad to get them. It’s not as much as they were originally hoping for, but enough that paying airfare plus a $500 bonus is still a worthwhile deal for the state to make.

Medical tourism is hardly a new phenomenon. Eight percent of Americans said in a 2016 Kaiser Family Foundation poll that they had purchased prescription drugs outside of the United States. US government surveys have estimated between 150,000 and 320,000 Americans annually name health care as their reason for traveling abroad. Lower costs are usually their motivation.

Wow, I freaking live here and this is the first I have heard of it. Probably one of those things that designed to be under the radar.

”While we have long heard stories of individuals or informal groups of patients crossing the border to buy cheaper drugs, it has not typically been a sanctioned part of the American health insurance system,” Caroline Pearson, a senior fellow at NORC at the University of Chicago, told me. “The Utah … example is the only case that I am aware of.”

Way below the radar as this is the only place where it happens.

In brief, here is how the Utah government employee program works:

• Patients taking one or more of 13 specialty drugs are eligible to participate
• They can travel to Vancouver, Canada, or Tijuana, Mexico, to buy their prescriptions
• They still make their usual copayments only
• The state health insurance plan covers the cost of their airfare, transportation to and from the airport, and lodging if necessary
• The state will also pay the patients $500 cash for making the trip

They use a medical tourism service once they arrive to ensure the patient can complete the transaction and return.

Medical tourism is kind of a “wow” thing for me. Strangely, Utah is circumventing the pharmaceutical costs like they are in this situation. Yet it does save money on those super-expensive treatments.

I don’t feel this is a progressive move, more than it is an admission that even the state governments think that healthcare costs, especially prescription drugs, are getting way out of hand.

Utah is moving forward with a bill creating an insulin cost cap, much like Colorado did. Whether it will pass is another story.  I think it might.  I think even in their reddest moments, our legislature is paying too much and must contain costs.  I am glad that they do not decide to eliminate insurance for their workers. I do have a stake in it as I am related to a state employee.

It brings to the thought that we need to cap medications in this “there is a pill for it” world.  However, high prices often make a patient decide between other necessities and treating chronic illnesses. It leaves a provider being creative in prescribing to ensure compliance.

Of course, I support reasonable medication costs, because in the end, it gives providers a more significant choice of medications, not just “the cheapest.” The cheapest may not be the most effective.

I guess this one I file under “strange,” which means that maybe it is typical for Utah. I join the almost deafening call for a more reasonable pharmaceutical cost. I would like to see much more revamping of the healthcare system, but I remain skeptical when the level of greed is so damn high in healthcare.

I had a friend in the “Medicare for all” crowd try to tell me that my skepticism was not helping.  Well, I am not an optimist, especially with the push for profits. Medicare of all or any other sensible program will meet the utmost of resistance from those making that money.

I honestly have given up on our elected officials as they long stopped listening to their constituents and more to the money. Very unfortunate.

Anyhow, be the person your mom and your dog hope you are.