Nevada plans changes to seniors' Rx plan

The Assembly of the US state of Nevada has passed legislative proposalsto change the current system of helping seniors to pay for prescription medication.

Under the current Senior RX program, which is run by insurance companies and financed with $5 million from a national tobacco settlement, seniors with the lowest incomes receive a $40 state subsidy towards the $74 monthly base cost of the plan. The new plan would use the same subsidy but the state would run the Senior RX plan, and it would also eliminate premiums for all seniors and reduce the co-pay for each prescription, reports the Associated Press. Assemblywoman Barbara Buckley, who sponsored the bill, has said that she is open to compromise.

Fewer than 300 residents have signed up for the Senior RX plan, proposed by the governor, since enrollment was opened last December; it is estimated that up to 11,000 Nevada seniors are eligible. In March, the state Senate passed a new proposal from the governor to do away with the premium for seniors with incomes below $12,700. The new plan is now in the Assembly.