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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Todd A. Eachus |
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Eachus plan to expand senior prescription drug coverage introduced in House
HARRISBURG, June 12 – State House Majority Leader Todd A. Eachus, D-Luzerne, officially introduced legislation this week that would expand the state's PACE/PACENET prescription drug program to cover prescription drugs for thousands more Pennsylvania seniors.
Eachus, who has been a major voice for seniors in the state House for more than 12 years, said his legislation (H.B. 1676) would enhance the quality of life for an additional 30,000 seniors in Pennsylvania who are struggling to make ends meet in today's difficult economy.
"With the economy in a recession, and many pension plans and investments wiped out by Wall Street greed, more and more seniors are finding it hard to pay the out-of-pocket costs of their prescription drugs," Eachus said. "In addition, many seniors have been forced to go back to work, making them ineligible for PACE/PACENET because they make too much money. We need to make sure our seniors are not forced to choose between groceries and their prescriptions."
Eachus said many of the 30,000 additional seniors who would become eligible for the PACE/PACENET program through this proposal are caught in the Medicare Part D "doughnut hole" -- a stipulation that requires a $4,700 out-of-pocket deductible before Medicare covers the cost of their medications.
"Far too many seniors in Pennsylvania are going without medically necessary prescriptions because they cannot afford the out-of-pocket costs of Medicare Part D," he added. "There is a real danger because seniors are at risk of serious illness and complications because they are unable to take their prescriptions as prescribed."
The expanded program would increase the PACENET income eligibility limit for an individual from $23,500 a year to $30,000 a year. Similarly, the income guidelines for a couple would increase from $31,000 a year to $40,000 a year.
House Bill 1676 would come with no additional cost to taxpayers, using tens of millions of dollars a year saved from more efficient delivery of the program, Eachus said.
In addition, the proposal would require pharmaceutical manufacturers to index their rebate payments to offset the effect of inflation. Eachus said this small, but effective, change in the law would require manufacturers to pay fairer rebates and would bring the PACE/PACENET program in line with federal prescription programs.
"Indexing rebate payments would ensure that the value of the discounted prescriptions that PACE/PACENET receives from pharmaceutical manufacturers isn’t gradually reduced by inflation," Eachus said. "We simply want the same treatment other states and the federal government receive from drug manufacturers.
"By making the program more efficient, and improving fairness in the rebates we receive, we can offer more affordable prescriptions to tens of thousands of additional seniors across our state," he added. "This is a common sense plan that improves our PACE/PACENET program and gives critical help to seniors who need it."
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