Kaiser Loses Bid to Drop Viagra Coverage

Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, the largest nonprofit health maintenance organization, said California’s Department of Corporations has denied its request to drop coverage in 1999 of anti-impotence drug Viagra and other sexual-dysfunction treatments. Kaiser spokesman Jim Anderson said the Oakland-based HMO’s current policy of requiring patients to pay 50% of the treatment costs will stand. He said the decision would probably result in some rate increases “down the line” as the costs of such drugs rise. The department, meanwhile, is considering similar requests from several other large HMOs, including PacifiCare Health Systems and Aetna U.S. Healthcare. Last year, the agency investigated Kaiser after the HMO sought to exclude Viagra coverage. This week, Kaiser and the state reached a settlement; no liability was found.