The Associated Press: States consider cutting drug help for seniors

By RAY HENRY – 4 days ago

PAWTUCKET, R.I. (AP) — Joanne Devlin needs about 20 prescription drugs to regulate her blood pressure, keep her arthritic joints limber and pain-free and control her asthma.

She counts on financial help from Rhode Island when her Medicare Part D insurance plan maxes out and no longer pays her drug bills, which can reach $3,000 every three months. But that state help may no longer be an option after Jan. 1.

The financial crisis has grown so severe that lawmakers in Rhode Island and five other states have debated whether to cut or reduce the state funding that helps seniors and disabled people like Devlin buy their drugs.

Devlin, 62, who lives off about $10,000 a year, worries she may need to stop taking her arthritis medication to make ends meet. She stocks shelves and helps distribute food as a volunteer at a Salvation Army food shelter.

"I wouldn't be able to move a lot," she said. "I probably wouldn't even be able to come here. I'd probably have to stay home and some days be bedridden, probably."

Devlin's predicament is shared by many of the nearly 27 million people enrolled nationally in Medicare Part D, the federal insurance plan that covers prescription drugs for seniors until the total bill reaches $2,700.

Seniors then hit what's commonly called the "doughnut hole," and must personally pay the drug bill until their out-of-pocket costs reach $4,350, at which point Medicare coverage resumes. When seniors fall into this gap, 16 states offer financial assistance, said Thomas McCormack, a consultant for the Community Access National Network and editor of the Medicaid Watch newsletter.

The Associated Press: States consider cutting drug help for seniors