If the current economy weren’t bad enough for seniors on fixed incomes, now the state of Massachusetts (as a result of the recession) has slashed a state program that assisted seniors with drug costs. Boston.com reports:
Tens of thousands of Bay State seniors are facing steep increases in the cost of their prescription drug copayments, the result of an $11 million cut in a state-funded program that, until Jan. 1, helped to defray their pharmacy costs. More than 44,000 senior citizens are affected by the cuts in the Prescription Advantage program, with many seeing their copayments double or triple, officials said.
As a result, some seniors are simply leaving their prescriptions on the pharmacy counter, rather than pay a price they feel they can’t afford, said Mary Sullivan, a pharmacist and director of MassMedLine, a nonprofit organization run by the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.
“I am selling everything I can on eBay to help pay for these drugs,” said Ralph F. Van Dean, a 77-year-old Swampscott resident who said he was hit with a $793 copayment Jan. 4 for four medications for his wife, Nina, who suffers from a chronic lung disease. Previously, he said, the copayment for the four drugs would have been about $50, because the Prescription Advantage program covered what Medicare did not.
The irony here is that, compared to most states (particularly mine — Texas), Massachusetts has been among the most generous in supplementing federal programs like Medicare and Social Security. If the state of Massachusetts is bailing on its seniors, I’m afraid we can expect others to do the same.
I live in Massachusetts and this is not the only thing to be cut so far and I fear more will be on the way. With cuts in Federal aid, it is reducing what the state can cover. I’m sure it will be the same with other states, as well.
Unfortunately, many programs are most likely going to be cut on the local, state and federal level all across the country and the ones that will be hurt the most are the ones that need the help the most.
This is awful–the CEO of any one of the multiple bankrupted wall street firms made enough to cover the medical costs of all these poor people.
This is really sad to hear for any state and anyone effected by this. I never realized that most state to state laws were so different. I am pretty sure mine helps out, but wont places like Wally World help out with their $4/Rx for certain people, thats not limited to age right?