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To: zx who wrote (22218)	12/30/1998 8:25:00 AM
From: zx	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50167

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 01:43 AM ET 12/29/98 Kaiser Agees To Pay for Viagra Kaiser Agees To Pay for Viagra SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) _ The nation's largest nonprofit HMO on Monday agreed to keep paying the costs of prescribing Viagra for Californians after an investigation into whether the company had broken state law. The state Department of Corporations, which oversees HMOs, began investigating Kaiser Permanente last summer after the company announced it would not cover Viagra starting in 1999 because of its potential cost. The state argued that if a doctor prescribes Viagra as being medically necessary, the health plan has an obligation to cover it. While investigators found Kaiser's actions to be ''straddling the line'' of legality, the agency said, ''the agreement indicates we have resolved the matter and there has been no finding of liability on the part of the plan.'' Kaiser also agreed to pay the state $250,000 to help cover investigation costs, and said it would resolve all grievances from members denied prescriptions for the anti-impotence drug from April to September. ''Although we disagree with some of the DOC conclusions, we do agree there was confusion regarding coverage of Viagra,'' Kaiser spokeswoman Kathleen McKenna told The Sacramento Bee. ''We want our members to know if they need Viagra, they will continue to get the drug at Kaiser Permanente.'' Still pending is Kaiser's request for permission to drop general coverage of all types of sexual dysfunction treatments, and instead offer employers a supplementary benefit for a higher premium. The agency is considering similar requests from several other large HMOs, including PacifiCare Health Systems, Health Net and Aetna U.S. Healthcare. Twelve other states and the District of Columbia have already agreed to allow Kaiser to drop coverage of sexual dysfunction treatments. New York and Connecticut have turned down Kaiser's applications. An application is pending in Washington state.