Cook County cuts off free prescription drugs for nonresidents

Poor residents of collar counties won't get free prescription drugs at Cook County hospitals and health facilities starting Dec. 1.

Lake, DuPage, McHenry and Kane counties' health departments now are gearing up to help residents referred back by Cook with finding prescription drug services.

Lake County has set up a hotline for pharmacy referrals, and other counties are tapping internal resources and community partners for help.

"There is no guarantee that they are going to get medications here," said Dale Galassie, Lake County Health Department executive director. "Some of these are very expensive medications for cancer patients. Our intention is to try and help case-manage them."

According to the Cook County Bureau of Health Services, roughly 254,000 of 4.3 million prescriptions filled last year were for out-of-county residents.

Those patients will be sent back to their home counties for prescription drugs if they cannot pay, said Sean Howard, Cook County Bureau of Health spokesman.

"We are in the midst of a huge budget deficit," he said. "It was a bipartisan move to turn to this particular measure. They (collar counties) absolutely refuse to share in any kind of financial responsibility for their residents who come to our bureau."

The move affects hundreds of indigent residents in Lake, DuPage, McHenry, Kane and Will counties who access services at Cook County hospitals, health centers and pharmacies each year.

For now, Cook County will continue providing emergency, ambulatory and specialty care to out-of-county residents, he said.

The decision to not subsidize drugs didn't surprise collar county health officials, who have been in talks with Cook County for more than a year on possible cutbacks to services provided to their residents.

"We don't see this as such a negative," said Maureen McHugh, executive director of the DuPage County Health Department. "We have a well-developed system now as to how we handle our underinsured and uninsured. We are open to Cook referring them back to our DuPage system so we can more appropriately plan for the needs of our community."

Galassie said his department provides primary care, dental and some pharmaceutical services to hundreds of out-of-county residents -- though not to the same extent as Cook -- and will continue to do so.

Lake sees a greater number of Cook residents cross the border for service than residents from other counties.

Meanwhile, Cook County would like to see collar counties pay for services provided to their residents in other areas. That is not likely to happen anytime soon.

Many county health officials say they have no control over their residents accessing Cook County services and refuse to reimburse for that because they lack faith in its financial management.

"And we just don't have dollars budgeted to that level for drugs," Galassie said.

Lake County receives some federal and state funds for pharmaceutical assistance to indigent people. But it won't cover everyone.

"I am sure we are not going to be 100 percent successful," Galassie said. "There are going to be people who are critically ill who are going to run out of their medications. You can absolutely be sure people are going to fall through the cracks."