Here's hoping the Senate, and the full Legislature, pass the original version.

The biggest reason is cost containment. If a panel of experts writes a list of the most effective medications, including generic drugs, for people insured by Medicaid, it could help to reduce the state's overall spending for those drugs. The drugs on the list would become the standard that doctors would be expected to prescribe.

Medicaid is the health-care program for low-income people that is jointly financed by the federal and state governments, so a preferred drug list could save both the federal and state governments money. It also would give the state clout to negotiate lower prices from drug companies, which is why Big Pharma opposes it.

Medicaid currently insures about 265,000 Utahns. Dr. David Sundwall, state health director, hopes that the list could save $10 million in the first year.

The strongest argument against the list is that it would deprive doctors and patients of the choice they need to find the best medication for a particular person and condition. That is a legitimate concern.

However, many private insurers impose formularies or lists of their own. In fact, 39 other states have preferred drug lists for Medicaid. So the state would not be asking Medicaid patients to shoulder a burden that many other insureds do not already share.

Besides, the initial list would not be comprehensive. It would be confined to six categories of widely prescribed drugs for ailments including acid reflux disease and stomach ulcers, high cholesterol, seizures, pain, sleep disorders and inflammation.

Nor would the list be a rigid formulary. Doctors could get prior authorization to prescribe a drug not on the list if they decide the preferred one won't work for their patient.

The Senate gutted the bill when it substituted another rule that would allow doctors to write "dispense as written" on prescriptions for drugs not on the list. That would defeat the whole concept. Fortunately, the Senate is reconsidering.

Given the huge role that drugs play in modern medicine, a preferred drug list is a necessary prescription for helping to contain costs.