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Home » Site Map List of Drugs: 0-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z List of Categories Other Pages No Prescription Meds: This is your Albany on drugs: New legislation would hike cost of mail-order meds. Whenever state lawmakers mess around with the rules for health insurance, New Yorkers should hang on to their wallets. The latest scheme out of the Legislature - meant to squash the growing use of mail-order pharmacies - is no exception. This proposed law does nothing to improve the quality or quantity of the drugs that people will get. But - like most of Albany's ill-conceived mandates - it will mean higher prices. Directly, the law actually bans discounts for customers who buy medications via mail order. Indirectly, the mandate is almost certain to drive up premiums for businesses that are already struggling to afford coverage for their employees. The result could easily be more people who lack any drug coverage at all. Yet this legislation - co-sponsored by Bronx Assemblyman Carl Heastie and Buffalo-area Sen. George Maziarz - whizzed through the Legislature with just four "no" votes. Which leaves Gov. Cuomo and his veto pen as the last line of defense for beleaguered consumers. More and more health plans are pushing their customers to use mail-order pharmacies for reasons that will be obvious to anyone who shops online: It's cheaper. The mail-order medication dealers handle huge volumes, which means economies of scale and special discounts from manufacturers. They're highly automated and centralized. And they operate with none of the overhead that goes along with operating millions of storefronts.
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