Division of Administration implements health plan changes for prescription drug access for state employees

BATON ROUGE – Commissioner of Administration Angele Davis announced today that, in preparation for the anticipated arrival of Hurricane Gustav, the state Office of Group Benefits has implemented changes to state employee health plans to allow for easier access to prescription drugs. Many OGB plan members may be evacuating in preparation for Hurricane Gustav.

To help plan members obtain the prescription drugs they need to stay healthy, OGB has implemented two changes:
• Plan members can refill prescriptions without the usual 30-day restrictions.
• Plan members who use an out-of-network pharmacy will pay no penalties.

Also, to make access to medical records easier in case of evacuation, a two-year history of medical claims for all covered family members, including lab tests, X-rays and prescriptions, can be viewed and printed using secure member login from the OGB website at www.groupbenefits.org. These changes cover over 200,000 active and retired employees and family members.