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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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CONTACT: Stephany Dugan |
State Rep. Nick Kotik |
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November 2007
LEGISLATIVE ROUNDUP
At various times throughout the course of a year, we celebrate, commemorate and recognize the sacrifices made for us by the men and women serving, or who have served, in our armed forces. Whether it’s on Memorial Day, Veterans Day, or any other holiday or day of the week for that matter, our thanks is necessary beyond words.
Brave, heroic, selfless – words often used to describe the service of our state and nation’s military men and women. Pennsylvania’s finest have proudly served in our nation’s military since the start of our democracy, fighting to secure and protect the ideals our nation was founded on.
So how can we in Pennsylvania best serve those who have served our state and our nation?
I would like to take this opportunity to inform you about just a few of the many bills I support that are currently under review in the state House that would better serve our military personnel of yesterday and today.
One of the bills would create a new cabinet-level agency, the Department of Veterans Affairs, to better manage the concerns of our state’s former service members.
A new department would improve outreach to Pennsylvania’s 1.15 million veterans and provide more effective delivery of services. The needs of our veterans are as diverse as the veterans themselves, and their list of issues is growing in number and complexity, making it challenging for the veteran as well as the service provider to manage these concerns.
A cabinet-level department would be able to represent Pennsylvania at the federal level and lobby for increased funding. Eighteen states already have a Department of Veterans’ Affairs in place to represent their veterans and promote their needs to the federal government.
In addition to me, this bill is supported by more than 50 legislators from every region and from both parties.
Another piece of legislation deals with the health-care needs of veterans. In a time of ever-increasing prescription costs, I find it very pertinent to look at how we can help reduce those costs, in particular, for the veterans living in nursing homes.
I am supporting a bill that would allow veterans who move into nursing homes or other long-term care facilities to continue purchasing their medications at reduced cost through their prescription benefit program.
Pharmacists in Pennsylvania currently are prohibited from repackaging or redistributing medications. This bill would permit pharmacists employed by long-term care facilities to repackage drugs received from outside sources. That would allow long-term care pharmacists to receive the 90-pill containers purchased by veterans through the Veterans Administration or other benefit plans and then re-package them into single doses to be dispensed in nursing home.
This would also allow veterans in these homes to continue receiving the prescription benefits they earned and continue to afford the medications they need.
Too many veterans are paying the price for too many additional costs every year when it comes to the cost of their medications. I believe this would go a long way in protecting both the physical and financial health of the many veterans currently living in long-term care facilities.
There are many issues facing our veterans each and every day. From health-care needs to jobs to financial burdens, Pennsylvania veterans deserve our help and support and I pledge to continue to offer my support in any way possible.
The measures mentioned above barely scratch that surface of the many veterans’ issues that are currently under review by the legislature. If you would like more information on what the proposals to address these issues entail, please feel free to contact me by calling my Coraopolis office at 412-264-4260 or by sending me an e-mail through my Web site: www.pahouse.com/kotik.
I strongly believe Pennsylvania wants to do better for its vets. Now is our chance.
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