Lawmakers moved Tuesday to eliminate federal payments for Viagra and other drugs that treat impotence, as a federal agency warned states that they could face sanctions if they don’t end Medicaid coverage for such drugs for convicted sex offenders. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimated Tuesday that Medicaid spends about $38 million a year on erectile dysfunction drugs, all but $2 million for Viagra. That’s too much for Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, who introduced legislation that would eliminate all federal payments, both Medicaid and Medicare, for these drugs. Absent a ban, he said, Medicaid and Medicare would spend $2 billion on impotence drugs between 2006 and 2015.
