Herald-Review : Decatur, Illinois
By THERESA CHURCHILL - H&R Senior Writer Herald-Review|Friday, June 3, 2011
Many Macon County seniors will lose prescription drug aid due to state budget cuts
DECATUR, Illinois - About 650 Macon County residents receiving prescription drug assistance from Illinois will lose it Sept. 1 under the $33.2 billion state budget for the year beginning July 1.
That was among the bad news delivered Thursday by Mike O'Donnell, executive director of the East Central Illinois Area Agency on Aging, at a monthly luncheon meeting of the local Human Service Agency Consortium at Central Christian Church.
O'Donnell said about 30,000, or about 17 percent of 175,000 recipients, will no longer qualify statewide once the income eligibility is lowered from 300 percent of the federal poverty level to 200 percent.
He said the new maximum income level will be $21,780 for a single-person household and $29,420 for two people, down from $27,066 and $36,560 currently.
Most enrollees are 65 or older, but some are younger people with disabilities.
"This is a big concern," O'Donnell said. "Affordability of medications is as important as how we manage them."
During an interview after the meeting, he produced figures showing that 3,784 Macon County residents are now enrolled in Illinois Cares Rx, which recipients access by applying for Circuit Breaker property tax relief.
Further details on program reductions remain unclear because the General Assembly has given the Department of Healthcare and Family Services a lot of leeway to amend program rules, but O'Donnell said the state will likely keep paying the monthly premium for Medicare Part D coverage for eligible people.
Less certain is whether Illinois will continue to cover the annual $310 deductible, due in January.
"You can imagine, right after the holidays, coming up with that amount would be a very difficult thing for most people to do," O'Donnell said.
Gone is a $25 rebate for recipients who have Part D coverage through a former employer, he said.
As for co-payments, O'Donnell believes consumers will pay $5 for generics, up from $2.50; $15 for preferred brand-name drugs, up from $6.30; and $20 for nonpreferred brand names, up from $15.
O'Donnell said reductions to the Department on Aging's budget were to community-based services, 20.8 percent, including rental payments, supplemental medication, hygiene products, eyeglasses, hearing aids and dentures.
Other cuts were to Senior HelpLine, 44.6 percent; Retired Senior Volunteer and Foster Grandparent programs, 20.8 percent; assistance for grandparents raising grandchildren and Senior Employment Specialist Program, 20 percent; and home-delivered meals, 9.5 percent.
O'Donnell said his agency's ability to support rural public transportation also will be affected, although $10,233 remains for a new system in Macon County to be administered by St. Mary's Hospital and start sometime this summer.
In addition, starting July 1, applicants for the Community Care Program must qualify for Medicaid and have no more than $2,000 worth of assets.
"There's a definite move toward, I'll call it 'Medicaidization.' In other words, we're making everyone qualify for Medicaid to be eligible for any type of public support," he said.
As for federal funding, O'Donnell said Illinois still is awaiting its allotment for the year ending Sept. 30 and expects a lower amount because Census 2010 shows the state with a smaller share of the nation's older population.
In addition, the state's Senior Community Service Employment Program has been cut for the year beginning July 1.
In Decatur, that will affect 12 older workers placed with the Illinois WorkNet Center, Dove Inc.'s Retired Senior & Volunteer Program, Salvation Army, Macon County Circuit Clerk, Decatur-Macon County Senior Center and Decatur-Macon County Opportunities Corp.
"We've been instructed not to lay off but to reduce the number of hours they can work," O'Donnell said.
tchurchill@herald-review.com|421-7978
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