Governor Corbett Fulfills State’s Promise Protecting PACE and PACENET Prescription Benefits for Older Adults

HARRISBURG, Pa., Aug. 4, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ —
Governor Tom Corbett today ceremonially signed House Bill
463 at Country Meadows Retirement Community in Hershey. The new law
ensures thousands of older Pennsylvanians enrolled in the PACE and
PACENET program will not lose their coverage as the result of a
small increase in their Social Security benefits.

The PACE and PACENET programs, funded by the Pennsylvania
Lottery, provide prescription drug benefits to income-eligible
Pennsylvanians 65 and older.

More than 21,000 PACE and 9,000 PACENET enrollees were in
jeopardy of losing their benefits as a result of receiving a Social
Security cost of living adjustment, or COLA. The COLA increased
their income just enough to become ineligible for program benefits.
Those who no longer qualified for the program would have had to pay
out-of-pocket monthly premiums and higher co-pays for their
prescriptions.

“When PACE was first enacted, the state made a pledge to provide
low-cost medical prescriptions to its senior citizens,” said
Corbett. “This law is about fulfilling that promise to our older
citizens and ensuring their prescription benefits are
protected.”

This bill was necessary since the most recent moratorium
safeguarding enrollees from losing their benefits due to Social
Security COLAs expired. The moratorium has now been extended until
December 31, 2013. It ensures that participants who have had COLAs
since 2007 won’t become ineligible for their PACE and PACENET
benefits because of their COLA increases.

“Prescription drug benefits are vital to older adults to help
them stay healthy,” said Secretary of Aging Brian Duke. “This
legislation provides the protection many of the PACE participants
need to remain in the program; otherwise, many individuals would be
hard pressed to afford their medications.”

For more information, visit Department of Aging online at www.aging.state

‘/>”/>

SOURCE