6153-S.E AMH SCHL 78

ESSB 6153 - H AMD 296 WITHDRAWN 6/15/01

By Representative ___

     On page 67, after line 2, insert the following:

A(5) $30,000,000 of the health services account appropriation for fiscal year 2002, and $30,000,000 of the health services account appropriation for fiscal year 2003 are provided solely for the health care authority to operate a prescription medication assistance program. The authority shall provide financial assistance to individuals sixty-five years old and older with a household income above the eligibility standard for medicaid categorically needy coverage and below two hundred and fifty percent of the federal poverty guildelines and whose prescription medication costs exceed two hundred and fifty dollars per month. The administrator shall determine an appropriate standard benefit for recipients and if the administrator determines that the funds appropriated for the program are not sufficient to serve all individuals who qualify for assistance, the administrator must take steps necessary to limit program expenditures to an amount equal to appropriated funds. Funding for this program shall be financed from the receipt of tobacco settlement money.@

EFFECT: Creates a prescription assistance programs for low-income seniors with high prescription costs.