PA House OKs GOP seniors' Rx drug plan

In the USA, Pennsylvania's House of Representatives has approved aRepublican plan to expand a state program that helps seniors buy prescription drugs. The plan would raise income caps for the PACE (Pharmaceutical Assistance Contract for the Elderly) NET prescription assistance program, which offers subsidies to seniors who cannot afford drugs but whose incomes are too high for the PACE program. The funds allotted would be added to any provided by the federal government for the PACE or PACENET programs.

The plan would cost an estimated $191 million and add over 400,000 seniors to the 21,000 now eligible for benefits. It would be funded by a share of Pennsylvania's tobacco settlement, savings negotiated with drug companies and the return of unused drugs to state institutional programs, notes the Associated Press.

As part of the plan, which now goes to the state Senate, the House approved the setting-up of a basic health insurance program for uninsured adults and allocated money for medical research. However, since these three programs exceed the tobacco money which the state is expecting over the next 25 years, the plan will need to undergo some modification. GOP state Senators have previously said that adding state funds for prescription benefits might mean Pennsylvania getting fewer federal dollars, if Congress acts on its own assistance bill.