26 May, 2005 21:08 GMT
The federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued a new regulation Tuesday that allows states to stop paying for impotence treatments for convicted sex offenders.
New York State Gov. George Pataki has imposed a temporary ban on funding of all erectile dysfunction drugs until he introduces legislation to enable the state to cross-reference sex-offender lists with health databases.
The move is in response to revelations earlier this week that convicted sex offenders in the state were receiving ED drugs at taxpayers' expense, Newsday reported.
"I urge the Legislature to act quickly on this legislation that will allow us to put a targeted ban in place that will prevent sex offenders from receiving these drugs at taxpayer expense," Pataki said in a statement.
26 Missouri Offenders Supplied
Meanwhile, Missouri state officials disclosed Wednesday that the state's Medicaid program paid for ED drugs for 26 convicted sex offenders during the last year.
The officials said that those prescriptions would not be refilled and that future orders for ED drugs would be checked to confirm that recipients are not on the sex-offender registry, the Kansas City Star reported.
New Regulation in Place
The federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued a new regulation Tuesday that allows states to stop paying for impotence treatments for convicted sex offenders.
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