Capital Region BOCES receives $434,170 grant to launch Municipal Prescription Drug Purchasing Coalition

New York’s Department of State has awarded Capital Region BOCES $434,170 to launch a program that will ultimately save school districts, BOCES and other municipalities millions of dollars on prescription drug costs.

The three-year grant will partially fund the implementation of the Capital Region BOCES Municipal Prescription Drug Purchasing Coalition, which will allow municipalities to save funds on the administration of prescription drug plans for their employees. The alliance will save funding by:

Using the power of numbers to leverage lower prescription drug costs, and;

Reducing overall expenses associated with administering benefits.

A conservative estimate is that participating organizations will save 10- to 15- percent or more on prescription drug benefit costs annually.

“We are extremely pleased that the Department of State has selected the Capital Region BOCES Municipal Prescription Drug Purchasing Coalition for funding,” said BOCES Superintendent Charles S. Dedrick. “This funding will allow us to launch a program that will ultimately enable school districts and BOCES across the state to realize significant savings in prescription drug costs. It is a great example of BOCES leading regional cooperation to benefit schools.”

The prescription drug purchasing coalition is a new initiative of the New York State Municipal Benefits Coalition, which was established by BOCES to help school districts and municipalities around the state to realize health insurance savings while providing quality insurance coverage to public sector employees.

The grant will build on previous exploratory work completed with a Department of State planning grant received in 2010. The new funding will create the infrastructure needed to launch the prescription benefits coalition and begin enrolling school districts in the program.

Twenty-one Local Government Efficiency grants totaling $4 million were awarded statewide earlier this month. The grants are intended to help fund programs that will reduce local government costs and save taxpayer dollars through consolidation and reorganization.

"In today's economic climate, government must learn to be more efficient and find innovative ways to reduce costs to taxpayers," Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a press release Monday. "Our state cannot afford to place additional burdens on small businesses and working families, and these grants are designed to help local governments reorganize and cut costs, so taxpayers can be protected and municipalities can better serve their residents."

"I think it is important to note that if you look at the list of recipients of these Local Government Efficiency grants, two of the top three recipients in terms of dollars are BOCES organizations," concluded Dedrick. "It is very encouraging to see the Governor's vote of confidence in BOCES as both a leader in, and a convener of, regional cost-savings efforts."

The grant was written by the Capital Region BOCES’ Grants & Development Service.