News From:
	COMPTROLLER KEVIN LEMBO

COMPTROLLER LEMBO URGES MUNICIPALITIES TO JOIN CT PRESCRIPTION PARTNERSHIP, SAVE STATE AND TOWNS MILLIONS

Comptroller Kevin Lembo today - as towns and cities faced another swipe at their snow removal budgets - invited towns and cities to join the Connecticut Prescription Partnership, a new joint prescription purchasing initiative that could save municipal and state taxpayers millions of dollars.

In a letter to all Connecticut municipalities, Lembo said a number of towns and cities are actively considering participating in the program.

Legislation adopted last year authorized the Office of the State Comptroller to administer a joint prescription drug purchasing program, now called the Connecticut Prescription Partnership (the partnership).

The partnership enables towns and cities to join the state's self-insured pharmacy benefit program and achieve significant savings by purchasing drugs through the state.

"Towns and cities can potentially save millions by harnessing the state's purchasing power," Lembo said. "Those savings build - for both state and municipal taxpayers - as more towns and cities participate.

"As towns and cities dig out of financial stress - as well as snow and mounting road-clearing costs - this program offers a significant savings. Tough times are forcing all towns and cities, and every household, to find creative cost cutting. This prescription purchasing partnership is a smart and simple step towards financial efficiency for all public employers.

"As the new state comptroller, I am determined to help state and local governments eliminate wasteful spending, strengthen budget transparency and deliver government services more efficiently."

Lembo stressed that municipal prescription drug benefit plans, as negotiated with employees, would not be impacted by participation in the partnership. He also noted that self-insured municipalities could benefit the most from participation.

Lembo also alerted municipalities to a second potentially beneficial program for municipalities - the State Comptroller's Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) initiative - that provides electronic payments to vendors and certain municipalities. For those municipalities that participate, the program ensures that funds are more promptly and directly deposited into a municipal checking or savings account to avoid mailing and handling delays or glitches. Email remittance advices can be sent to each department in a town or city for easy payment identification.

Back to Comptroller's Home Page
Back to Index of Comptroller's Press Releases