N.C. Senior Care Plan Initiated

The N.C. Senior Care Plan is a joint effort between the N.C. Health and Wellness Trust Fund Commission and the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services to provide better access to prescription drugs and insulin for senior citizens in the state.

The program bases eligibility on residency, age, income, disease and insurance. Diseases that are eligible for treatment under the program are cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and diabetes.

The plan will cover a majority of the price of senior citizens' annual prescription drug bill, said Senior Care Director Michael Keough. "(It will) cover 60 percent of the first thousand dollars."

Senior Care is aimed at state residents 65 and over who make less than $17,180 if they are single or $23,220 if they are married, Keough said. "(It's) for people who don't have any other insurance to cover the cost of prescription drugs."

A portion of the tobacco settlement money used for Senior Care was likely the same funds being considered for a new cancer center at UNC. The N.C. General Assembly did not allot money for this project in the state budget.

"Sometimes (the legislature) has to make a choice between two good programs," Keough said. "These are difficult times."

Senior Care is strictly state-funded, Keough said, but Gov. Mike Easley is considering requesting federal funding for the program in the future.

Carly Benson, a senior care specialist, said the prescription drug program will cover all medicines needed to treat these ailments. She said seniors also are allowed to have other discount cards, including one from the American Association of Retired Persons.

Seniors trying to qualify for the program must include their spouse's income in their total when applying, even if the spouse is younger than 65, Benson said.

Keough estimated that there are 150,000 people eligible for the program in North Carolina but predicted only 100,000 will actually apply.

Benson said program applications must be submitted by the 20th of any given month to be eligible for coverage, which begins on the first day of the following month. She said enrollment occurs year-round.

Keough said the new program expands drug benefits for seniors by allowing a wider range of people to benefit. He said the old program, which was in place for about two years, limited membership to people in a much lower income range than Senior Care.

"Their income couldn't exceed 120 percent of poverty-level income, which is ($11 thousand to $12 thousand maximum)," he said.

Participants in the old program were allowed to be in both Medicare, which is aimed at the elderly, and Medicaid, which assists the poor, Keough said.

Senior Care only allows its members to receive Medicare.

Keough added that the old program also restricted the type of disease participants could suffer from. He said that because it is funded through tobacco settlement money, lung-related diseases were added to the coverage. This addition bumped the number of residents qualifying to 75 percent.

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.