Prescription drug aid for elderly poor
June 28, 1999
Web posted at: 2:17 p.m. EDT (1817 GMT)
By Correspondent Gary Tuchman
NEW YORK (CNN) -- As Congress and the White House debate
Medicare spending, including proposals to make prescription
drugs more affordable, 73-year-old Katherine Roberts believes
a similar program already in place in New York state has
saved her life.
A Manhattan apartment dweller, whose yearly income of about
$11,000 comes from Social Security checks, Roberts takes
several prescription drugs, but does not qualify for
Medicaid, a government health care program for the poor.
That led to a difficult decision. After paying for her
medication, Roberts had only enough money to feed her cat --
or herself.
It's a choice she no longer has to make, due to a New York
state program called EPIC that allows 108,000 seniors to pay
a fraction of the original price on prescription drugs.
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Roberts: "It has definitely saved my life"
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The state spends about $90 million annually to subsidize
prescriptions for single seniors who make under $18,500 a
year; the limit is $24,400 for married couples.
92% discount on pricey drug
Roberts, who currently takes Lipitor for high cholesterol,
Zestril for hypertension and Prilosec for a reflux disorder
would have to spend about $2,800 a year for those drugs.
But under EPIC, she and other participants never pay more
than $23 for each prescription, so for her priciest drug,
Prilosec, Roberts gets a 92% discount.
Other states have, or are planning, similar drug subsidies.
Advocacy groups for the elderly say New York's program is the
most innovative.
While manufacturers oppose legislation that would limit what
they can charge for their drugs, they don't object to the New
York program because the state government pays for the
discount.
And Katherine Roberts couldn't be happier. "It's made my
life possible."
RELATED STORIES:
Clinton drug plan right prescription for Medicare? June 27, 1999
Clinton drops Medicare prescription drug change June 26, 1999
AMA to develop Web prescription guidelines June 24, 1999
RELATED SITES:
The EPIC Guide
Medicare
Stark Introduces Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit
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