Sex offenders getting Viagra through Medicaid

This is comforting. Not.

ALBANY, N.Y. — Scores of convicted rapists and other high-risk sex offenders in New York have been getting Viagra paid by Medicaid (search) for the last five years, the state’s comptroller said Sunday.

Audits by Comptroller Alan Hevesi’s office showed that between January 2000 and March 2005, 198 sex offenders in New York received Medicaid-reimbursed Viagra after their convictions. Those included crimes against children as young as 2 years old, he said.

Hevesi asked Michael Leavitt, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in a letter Sunday to “take immediate action to ensure that sex offenders do not receive erectile dysfunction medication paid for by taxpayers.”

A call to Leavitt’s office was not immediately returned Sunday.

According to Hevesi, the problem is an unintended consequence of a 1998 directive from federal officials telling states that Medicaid prescription programs must include Viagra. His office discovered that the state was helping sex offenders pay for Viagra by checking Medicaid pharmacy expenditures against the state’s sex offender registry.

Hillary to the rescue:

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said in a statement that it was “deeply disturbing and runs contrary to the purpose of Medicaid, which is to provide health care coverage for uninsured, low-income individuals.” Clinton, a Democrat, urged Leavitt to look into the matter, and said she would explore legislative options.

Also happening in Virginia:

RICHMOND, Va. — Medicaid paid the costs of Viagra and other prescription erectile dysfunction drugs for 52 men registered as violent sex offenders in Virginia, a state official said Thursday.

Also, Gov. Mark R. Warner issued an emergency order Thursday that bars the state from paying for the drugs for those 52 men under the government program for the poor, elderly and disabled.