Article: HMOs cut or reduce Viagra coverage

Kaiser Permanente, the nation's largest health maintenance organization, said yesterday it would not pay for Viagra, the controversial new drug that treats male impotence.

The decision will probably influence how HMOs across the country deal with the thorny issue of whether to provide coverage for Viagra, a problem that some HMO executives are calling "Viagravation."

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts said yesterday that it would pay for only four Viagra pills a month for each patient diagnosed with impotence, down from 12. The decision follows a similar move last week by Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, the largest health maintenance organization in New England, to cut its coverage ...

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