Dear Editor:
Unless Governor Chris Christie’s proposed budget is changed by the Legislature, many low-income seniors are in for a nasty shock and possibly a bout of poor health when they try to refill their prescriptions in January.
The budget proposal says some seniors enrolled in the Pharmaceutical Assistance to the Aged and Disabled (PAAD) program and all persons in the Senior Gold program must pay a $310 deductible at the start of the new year. That’s $310 cash up front before they get a single pill. It’s $620 if a husband and wife both need refills. On their first visit to the drug store in January, if they have $310 available, they can get their prescription and go home. If they don’t have the cash, they can beg the pharmacist to let them pay over time. But few pharmacists will have the ability to grant that kind of request for hundreds of customers. And if seniors don’t have the money and the druggist says no to advancing the payment, they’ll simply have to do without their medications until they save up.
It’s not that seniors aren’t already paying for a portion of their drug costs. Senior Gold enrollees will continue to pay 15 percent plus half the cost of the prescription and PAAD enrollees will see their co-pays rise from $7 to $15 for brand name drugs. Because the average senior fills more than 14 prescriptions a year for multiple co-existing health problems, medications are a significant share of their monthly expenses.
With support from my Democratic colleagues on the Assembly Budget Committee, I am working to eliminate the deductible altogether. However, if the viability of state finances really depends on payment of all those deductibles, I will insist the payments be spread out over the course of the year, so that seniors won’t find themselves choosing between a drug deductible and a rent payment in January.
Seniors and those who care about them are encouraged to let the Governor and Legislative leaders know how they feel about this issue. The Senior Gold Program provides pharmaceutical services to aged and disabled clients with incomes below $34,432 if single and $39,956 if married. The PAAD Program provides pharmaceutical services for seniors and disabled persons with incomes below $24,432 if single and $29,956 if married. Clients of the PAAD program who are at the very lowest income eligibility levels will not be affected by the co-payment or deductible changes. The previous sentence refers to about 40,000 seniors who are covered by Part D Low-income subsidy for Medicare. Their deductible will be picked up by the federal government.
Assemblywoman Joan Quigley,
District 32