Replacement for Guinn’s senior drug plan urged

Tuesday, March 27, 2001 | 11:07 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- While praising Gov. Kenny Guinn for starting a senior citizen prescription drug program two years ago, a parade of witnesses told an Assembly committee Monday that it was time to replace it because it's too confusing and costly.

"It's too expensive," said Dr. John Ellerton, a Las Vegas physician who said the plan benefits only a "select few."

Ellerton and others testified before the Assembly Health and Human Services Committee in support of Assembly Bill 345, which would switch the program from being run by insurance companies to one operated by the state. It would scrap the monthly premiums and reduce the co-pays for each prescription purchased.

The governor was commended for starting the Senior RX program while Congress failed to act. But the governor's plan, finally started in December, has only 205 senior citizens signed up with an eligible pool of 10,000 to 11,000 people who earn less than $21,000 a year.

The new plan is sponsored by the Democratic leadership including Majority Leader Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, and Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas.

Buckley said three insurance companies now operate the plan, which provides a sliding scale subsidy of $10 to $40, based on the income of a person 62 and older. That means a person would be paying a monthly premium of $40 or more for the coverage.

Buckley said she has spoken to the governor about converting his plan, and he had a "favorable" reaction. And this new plan could be in place by early 2002, allowing current enrollees to be switched over.

Under the present system, a person could pay up to 50 percent for a brand name or nongeneric drug. As an example, Buckley said Vioxx, an anti-inflammatory drug, would cost a person $70 as a co-payment. But the alternate plan calls for a maximum $25. And many seniors take more than one generic drug every day.

The $10 co-pay for generic drugs would remain the same as it is now under the Guinn plan. AB345 would require a $25 signup fee, but after that, there is no premium. Maximum benefits a year would be $5,000. And there would be a $100 deductible every year, the same as in the present plan.

Buckley said Congress is looking at the issue, but there is no guarantee it will pass legislation. Ellerton, a member of a Task Force for Health Care, said there was an urgent need for a drug program for low-income seniors. He said he has talked to his patients about it, but not one has signed up.

"It's too expensive and too confusing," he said in referring to the co-payments required and the list of drugs covered. When the program was started, Ellerton expected the state to be "inundated" with applications. There are more than 2,000 applications, but only a small fraction of the people have actually enrolled.

David Wilson, president of Professional Risk and Asset Management Insurance Services, one of the companies operating the program, was scheduled to testify but sent word he could not make it. But in his prepared testimony, he urged the committee to give Guinn's program a chance to work and build upon the present membership.

Nobody testified against AB345 but the committee did not take any action.

The prescription drug program costs about $5 million a year and is financed with money from the tobacco settlement fund.