FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 7, 2006
Contact: Tracy Polovick
Coordinator of Communications and Outreach
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Vance Legislation to Blend State Program and Medicare Part D Becomes Law

HARRISBURG – Pennsylvania's prescription drug assistance program for seniors now works seamlessly with the federal Medicare prescription drug program after legislation Sen. Pat Vance (R-Cumberland/York) authored was signed into law today.

The law aligns the PACE and PACENET programs to combine benefits with the federal Medicare prescription drug program.

"I'm pleased that after much hard work we were able to integrate these two programs," Vance said. "We now will be able to continue the important PACE and PACENET benefits for current and future low-income Pennsylvania seniors without beneficiaries noticing changes. This is a win-win for the Commonwealth."

Vance's law will supplement the benefits available under Medicare Part D by:

• providing coverage for prescription drugs not covered by Medicare Part D plans;
• paying for prescription drugs purchased in the deductible phase and donut hole of Medicare Part D;
• covering the cost of Medicare Part D premiums for PACE enrollees;
• covering the difference between co-payments charged by Medicare Part D and current PACE/PACENET co-payments;
• eliminating the PACENET $40 a month deductible and replacing it with a Medicare Part D premium that is less than or equal to the regional benchmark premium;
• authorizing the Commonwealth to recommend the most appropriate Medicare Part D plan to PACE/PACENET recipients;
• assisting PACE/PACENET recipients in identifying if they are eligible for the Medicare low income subsidy.

Vance has been a leader in the General Assembly to expand and maintain prescription drug benefits for Pennsylvania's low-income seniors. In 2003 legislation she authored in the House expanded coverage to allow an additional 100,000 Pennsylvanians to be eligible for prescription drug coverage. In 2001, she led a successful effort to use a portion of the state's national tobacco settlement money to increase the income eligibility limits for the PACENET program by $1,000, extending program eligibility to thousands more seniors. Finally, in 1995 she was a member of a group of House Republicans who guided the effort to increase income eligibility limits for the PACE program and create the PACENET program to provide access to benefits for middle-income seniors. 

Vance's district includes all of Cumberland County and Carroll, Fairview, Franklin, Monaghan, Warrington and Washington townships and Dillsburg, Franklintown and Wellsville boroughs in York County.

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