An extension of Wisconsin’s popular prescription drug program for seniors is now closer to coming to fruition, officials announced earlier this week.
Federal officials deemed the application to extend the SeniorCare Prescription Drug Assistance Program complete, and the application is awaiting a decision, Department of Health Services Secretary Dennis Smith said Monday.
The public now has until Nov. 8 to make comments on the Medicaid program.
“We know that SeniorCare is extremely popular, and we look forward to receiving the final approval on our request,” Smith said.
Gov. Scott Walker called the program an “efficient, cost-effective choice” for seniors and said he wishes to see the program extended, according to a statement.
With an annual $30 fee, a deductible based on a person’s income and co-payments of $5 or $15, SeniorCare helps seniors access affordable prescription drugs, according to a Department of Health Services statement.
The program is simple to sign up for and one that saves taxpayer money, said Rep. Andy Jorgensen, D-Fort Atkinson. More importantly, he said the program saves lives by ensuring seniors who cannot afford drugs are able to access them.
Jorgensen noted Wisconsin is the only state in the nation where seniors are not solely dependent on Medicare Part D, a federal program that covers prescription drugs.
He said Medicare Part D is not as beneficial for seniors because the applications are more complex, there are fewer drugs available and, unlike Wisconsin, the federal government is not allowed to bargain directly with drug companies, making drugs more expensive.
“My hope is that we can work on making SeniorCare a model for the nation,” Jorgensen said. “We are doing it right and need to show the nation this is the way to do it.”
Jorgensen encouraged the public to visit the website and describe why the program should be extended. He said “everybody has a story” about how the program is helping him or her live.
In Walker’s last budget, he attempted to make SeniorCare participants go through Medicare Part D instead, drawing criticism from Democrats as well as some Republicans. Jorgensen said he and others collected more than 14,000 petitions to inform Walker and the Republican leadership that SeniorCare needed to be preserved.
Nino Amato, president of the Coalition of Wisconsin Aging Groups, said his group also played a large part in overturning Walker’s decision and getting both parties to agree on an issue during the “worst toxic environment” in the Legislature. Amato said this showed what happens “when seniors get upset.”
Helen Marks Dicks, spokesperson for AARP Wisconsin, said the program has garnered support from both sides of the aisle.
“It does have very wide bipartisan support,” Dicks said. “I always laugh, because I don’t know how many senior meetings I’ve been to where legislators say, ‘I’m the mother of SeniorCare’ or ‘I’m the father of SeniorCare.’ Everyone claims it is their own, regardless of party.”
Dicks said the program ends up being cost-neutral for the state, with some money coming from the federal government, as SeniorCare is part of Medicaid. Other sources of funding are the state’s general purpose revenue funds, the rebates for drug bargaining and the out-of-pocket costs for beneficiaries.
