Senior prescription plan makes up for lost time

Friday, Oct. 5, 2001 | 11:01 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The program offering prescription drug insurance to low-income senior citizens has reached its enrollment goal more than a year ahead of schedule.

Jane Smedes, in charge of the program at the state Human Resources Department, said today 3,582 people have signed up for Senior RX, which had been off to a slow start.

"We have it now, and we're going to keep going," she said.

The program is run through a private insurance company. Under a law passed this year, the program would have become state operated if it did not reach 3,500 persons by Dec. 31, 2002.

Smedes said the 3,500 level was hit on Monday.

For those seniors who make less than $21,500 a year, there is no premium to sign up for the policy.

Smedes said 40 percent of the applicants come each from Clark County and the rural counties and the remaining 20 percent come from Washoe County. She said most of the enrollees are low-income women.

It is supported by funds from the state's tobacco settlement and there is enough money to pay for 6,000 persons, Smedes said.

Assembly Majority Leader Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, who together with Gov. Kenny Guinn helped restructure the program this year, called the enrollment figures "excellent news."

And this is even before an advertising program has started. "This comes just by word of mouth and it demonstrates the need for the program as well as the effectiveness of the changes we made," Buckley said.

The program, started by Guinn in 1999, called for seniors to pay part of the monthly premium that amounted to about $30 a month. That is now eliminated. "As previously designed it was not affordable for seniors. Changing the premium and the co-pay structure, we helped make the program more use-friendly and affordable," Buckley said.

But it's clear there needs to be more advertising in Clark County because only 40 percent of the applications come from Southern Nevada, which has nearly 70 percent of the population.

"The word is not getting out to our Clark County seniors," she said. "I've done some outreach to senior groups and am planning more in the next couple of months.

The enrollment statewide was 250 people on June 1 but after the new law, the applications started flowing in.