FRI., APR 6, 2007 - 1:30 AM
Waiver for SeniorCare is rejected
MARK PITSCH 608-252-6145
mpitsch@madison.com
Gov. Jim Doyle's administration is reviewing how best to maintain prescription drug services to the elderly after the federal government rejected the state's request to extend the popular SeniorCare program, the governor said Wednesday.
Regardless, Doyle said at a news conference that the decision likely kills the program, forcing the 104,000 people on SeniorCare to use the Medicare Part D drug plan.
"It's pretty hard to say it can be salvaged," Doyle said of SeniorCare.
Losing SeniorCare would cost taxpayers money and increase the price Wisconsin's elderly pay for medications, he said.
He said he will ask lawyers to review the federal decision.
In an April 3 letter to Doyle, Leslie Norwalk, acting administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said the federal government wavier allowing Wisconsin to operate SeniorCare would expire June 30 because state officials had not proven the program was cost-neutral. She said the state's waiver request didn't include information about the assets of program participants, which would help determine if SeniorCare saved taxpayers money.
The agency would consider allowing the program to continue through the end of this year if the state abandoned SeniorCare and created a program to supplement the federal Medicare Part D prescription drug plan, she said.
Kevin Hayden, secretary of the Department for Health and Family Services, said Wednesday he has asked that the waiver be extended through 2007 so the state has time to create a new program. He said he expects it will be granted.
Doyle said one option under consideration by the administration would be the creation of a supplemental program. He said there are other options he wouldn't disclose.
Darlene Finch, 70, of Oregon, was upset by the Bush administration decision.
"It's devastating that they're canceling out SeniorCare," Finch said. "I can't understand. SeniorCare is a very good program. Why are they are so determined to cancel it?"
A retired switchboard operator, Finch said one of her rheumatoid arthritis drugs costs $1,400 a month. She said under Medicare Part D, the government would pay for the first $2,500, then she would have to pay the next $3,000 before the plan would cover additional costs. That's money she said she can't afford. With SeniorCare, she gets the same drug for about $15 per month, she said.
Doyle said Wednesday that the savings for people like Finch comes after the state negotiates big price discounts with drug companies.
This year, SeniorCare will cost the state $57.6 million and the federal government $53.6 million. The program saves $62.2 million through drug company discounts, the state said.
Doyle and advocates for the elderly who attended the governor's news conference Wednesday urged the roughly 104,000 SeniorCare participants not to worry because the program has not ended yet.
"Don't panic," said Tom Frazier, executive director of the Coalition of Wisconsin Aging Groups. "There is time. Take a deep breath."
Administration officials urged people with questions to call the SeniorCare hot line, 800-657-2038. Officials also will contact those in the program to let them know about developments, said Matt Canter, a spokesman for Doyle.
As word spread Wednesday about the waiver, Democrats and Republicans escalated the political rhetoric about who was to blame.
At a news conference, Doyle, a Democrat, said the Bush administration was ignoring the facts on costs savings to taxpayers and the impact on the elderly by forcing them into the Medicare Part D plan. Wisconsin is the last state with its own prescription drug program for the elderly after the Bush administration killed off other state programs, he said.
"This has become a pattern with President Bush," Doyle said. "Stubborn and unwilling to admit a mistake. Relying on ideology while ignoring obvious facts. And putting rich, powerful interests ahead of regular people."
Republicans accused Doyle and the Democrats of trying to score political points. Some blamed Doyle for failing to submit all of the information Norwalk's office requested.
"I am disappointed that the federal government has denied Wisconsin's application to extend the waiver under which we offer the SeniorCare program," Senate Minority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, said in a statement. "I am also disappointed that the Doyle administration failed to collect or provide information the federal government had repeatedly requested as they considered Wisconsin's application."
But state lawmakers also urged cooperation in trying to create a program that will supplement Medicare Part D and be affordable to the state's elderly.
Members of the state's federal delegation from both parties issued statements Wednesday saying they were disappointed with the decision.
Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, launching his bid for the presidency Wednesday, said he, too, was disappointed in the wavier rejection, according to spokesman Tony Jewell. But Thompson, who approved the state's SeniorCare waiver as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, urged state officials to accept the decision.
Wisconsin began SeniorCare in September 2002 as a way to provide low-cost prescription drugs to the elderly. The Bush administration started Medicare Part D in January 2006.
For more information
On Medicare Part D:
800-633-4227
www.medicare.gov
On SeniorCare:
800-657-2038
dhfs.wisconsin.gov/seniorcare/
Other resources:
Dane County benefits specialists at the Coalition of Wisconsin Aging Groups: 608-224-0606, 800-488-2596
Disability Rights Wisconsin, 608-267-0214
AARP, 888-687-2277
Copyright ? 2007 Wisconsin State Journal