Small Cost-of-Living Adjustment Means Fewer Pennsylvania Seniors Will Lose Eligibility for Prescription Assistance Program

A relatively small -- 1.4% -- Social Security cost-of-living adjustment for 2003 means as few as 5,000 Pennsylvania seniors will lose their benefits next year under the state's prescription drug assistance program, called Pharmaceutical Assistance Contract for the Elderly, because the payments put them over the income limit, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. Tom Sneddin, director of the PACE program, said, "The bad news is with the increase in Medicare premiums, this (cost-of-living adjustment) only nets out to under 1% for seniors." However, Sneddin added that "[i]t's probably good news for many people since they won't get shoved out of the PACE program and lose a $2,500 a year benefit just for a few hundred dollars in (cost-of-living adjustments)" (Snowbeck, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/22). Previously, state officials projected a 3.5% increase and estimated that the boost would give as many as 10,800 seniors incomes too high to qualify for the program. Seniors are eligible for PACE if they have annual incomes of less than $14,000 per year for an individual and $17,200 for a couple. Participants pay $6 per prescription. The state Legislature had approved a moratorium against removing anyone from the program if cost-of-living adjustments made them ineligible, but that provision is set to expire at the end of 2002. The moratorium only applies to individuals enrolled before Dec. 31, 2000 (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 9/6). The state House is scheduled to vote this week on whether to extend the moratorium, and the Senate is not expected to address the issue until the chamber reconvenes after the November elections (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 9/6).