PRINTER'S NO. 1415
No. 207 Session of 2004
INTRODUCED BY ORIE, KUKOVICH, EARLL, WAGNER, MELLOW,
TARTAGLIONE, O'PAKE, GORDNER, ERICKSON, PIPPY, COSTA, DENT,
SCHWARTZ, WOZNIAK, BOSCOLA, ARMSTRONG, RAFFERTY, M. WHITE,
STACK, LEMMOND AND KASUNIC, MARCH 9, 2004
REFERRED TO AGING AND YOUTH, MARCH 9, 2004
A RESOLUTION
1 Memorializing the Congress of the United States to designate the
2 PACE Program as the enroller of Medicare and Medicaid
3 recipients of the drug benefit under the Medicare
4 Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003.
5 WHEREAS, Congress passed the Medicare Prescription Drug,
6 Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003; and
7 WHEREAS, The act will, for the first time in the history of
8 Medicare, provide prescription drugs to beneficiaries of
9 Medicare; and
10 WHEREAS, Seniors may access those prescription drugs through
11 a stand-alone drug program or in conjunction with Medicare
12 health care benefits; and
13 WHEREAS, While all seniors are eligible for the drug benefit,
14 some seniors may also be dually eligible for the Medicare and
15 Medicaid programs; and
16 WHEREAS, Pennsylvania provides prescription drugs to seniors
17 through the premiere pharmacy assistance program in the country,
18 PACE; and
1 WHEREAS, Program beneficiaries are allowed to enroll in ways
2 that are convenient to them, including by telephone, mail or e-
3 mail; and
4 WHEREAS, The Federal Medicare program will require applicants
5 for the Federal drug program to enroll in person at a Social
6 Security office; and
7 WHEREAS, Seniors who are dually eligible will be required to
8 enroll at a Social Security office for Medicare and at the
9 county assistance office for Medicaid; and
10 WHEREAS, The typical beneficiary of the PACE Program is a 79-
11 year-old widowed person who is residing alone and who may have
12 mental or physical incapacity that would preclude enrolling in
13 person; and
14 WHEREAS, The typical beneficiary may not have the resources
15 to travel to and enroll in person at a Social Security or county
16 assistance office; therefore be it
17 RESOLVED, That the Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
18 memorialize the Congress of the United States to urge the
19 Department of Health and Human Services to:
20 (1) Allow for "one-stop shopping" in states with
21 existing pharmacy assistance programs.
22 (2) Designate state pharmacy assistance programs as the
23 entities to enroll Medicare and Medicaid recipients in the
24 Federal Medicare programs.
25 (3) Design a single enrollment form for Federal and
26 state programs;
27 and be it further
28 RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
29 the presiding officers of each house of Congress and to each
30 member of Congress from Pennsylvania.
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