HHS Approves Florida Plan To Cover Seniors’ Drug Costs Through Medicaid; Governor Bush Announces Plan Details

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) on July 31 announced that HHS has approved the state's waiver application to cover under Medicaid drug expenses of seniors who otherwise do not qualify for the program, the Miami Herald reports (Clark, Miami Herald, 8/1). The waiver allows the state to expand an already existing prescription drug assistance program to cover seniors with annual incomes between $7,797 and $10,632 per year. Previously, only seniors earning less than $7,797 per year were eligible. About 58,000 additional Florida seniors are expected to benefit from the expansion; only 9,000 seniors had enrolled in the program after its inception in 2000 (LaMendola, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 8/1). The program will cover $160 of beneficiaries' drug expenses each month. Beneficiaries will contribute a $2 copayment for generic drugs, $5 for each drug on Florida's Medicaid preferred drug list and $15 for each name-brand drug not on the list (Miami Herald, 8/1). "This will help a whole lot of people who might be making those extraordinary choices [between prescription drugs and rent]," Bush said (Allison, St. Petersburg Times, 8/1). Earlier this week, HHS approved similar waiver applications for Maryland and South Carolina (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 7/31). Bush's potential rivals in the upcoming gubernatorial election, including former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno (D), criticized the plan. Reno said the expanded plan is the "kind of Band-Aid approach that this administration is known for" (Miami Herald, 8/1). Last month Reno unveiled her own plan to cover Florida seniors' drug expenses. The plan, modeled after similar programs in Maine and Michigan, would give enrolled seniors up to a 65% discount on prescription drugs at participating pharmacies (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 7/19). But Bush said, "Miss Reno's plan is based on some pie-in-the-sky idea that you can get a 65% discount from [drug companies]. There's no way it's going to happen" (South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 8/1).