Democrats offer changes to senior prescription plan

Erin Neff

Wednesday, June 5, 2002 | 11:11 a.m.

Assembly Democrats announced a prescription drug package Tuesday they said advances the state's existing Senior Rx program.

And although none of the Democrats wanted to make prescription drug prices a partisan election-year issue, no Republicans -- not even Gov. Kenny Guinn -- were included in the three-page press release touting the proposals.

Instead, Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, and Assembly Majority Leader Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, hyped the bill drafts requested by their Democratic colleagues.

"Democrats have worked on health care issues in the state of Nevada for years, whether it's in an election year or not," Buckley said, downplaying the politics.

Buckley and Perkins called for improvements to Guinn's Senior Rx program for low-income seniors. The program currently serves 7,500 and has 1,000 people on a waiting list to enroll.

"I think we can be smarter with the money we have," Buckley said.

Perkins, Buckley and Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, also called for an examination of the program to see if more seniors could be served by making the program state-run rather than insurance-based.

Michael Hillerby, Guinn's deputy chief of staff, said he believes the program should remain insurance-based to keep the state's risks at a minimum.

In the next month, the governor's office plans to examine the program's savings in cases where expenses fell below premiums -- and will also see how many new people the state can enroll as a result.

Other Democratic proposals were also announced Tuesday.

Assemblywoman Kathy McClain, D-Las Vegas, is requesting a bill -- similar to one that failed in 2001 -- to help seniors who might not qualify for Senior Rx, but who need help buying medicine.

Her bill is modeled after a plan in Maine that orders drug companies to give discounts to all recipients of Medicare if they wish to have their products on the preferred drug list for the Medicaid program.

Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, has a bill to create a Prescription Drug Advisory Commission. That commission would examine all of the state's pharmaceutical purchases for potential bulk purchases. Another proposal would create a "Prescription Help Desk" within the Office of Consumer Health Assistance to provide information to individuals who are eligible for free pharmaceuticals directly from the manufacturer.