New Jersey expands Rx aid program

Acting Governor Donald DiFrancesco of the US state of New Jersey hassigned into law an expansion of the state's prescription drug aid program for about 100,000 middle-income disabled people and seniors, a benefit which was previously limited to low-income residents.

The Senior Gold plan offers help to couples on incomes up to $33,589 and singles earning up to $29,238. They will be charged a higher co-payment than low-income residents, at $15 plus half the cost of the prescription or the medication's cost, whichever is cheaper. It provides full catastrophic care cover once individual enrollees have paid $2,000 a year in prescription costs, or $3,000 for couples. In all cases, beneficiaries still pay $15 for each prescription under the catastrophic plan, but the state assumes the full cost of the balance.

The new program will be paid for with the $7.6 billion that the state expects to receive over the next 25 years from the national tobacco settlement.