SeniorCare, the five-year-old Wisconsin program to help elderly patients pay for prescription drugs, will be allowed to expire when its federal waiver ends on June 30, according to The Washington Post. The state was informed of the decision by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services acting administrator Leslie Norwalk.
Gov. Jim Doyle and other advocates of the program let their disappointment be known. “This is a sad day for seniors, for taxpayers, and for the country,” said Doyle in a statement. “The Bush Administration is making a terrible mistake. As a result, Wisconsin seniors will pay more and get less coverage, while drug companies make even larger profits. Our state won’t be allowed to negotiate better prices on behalf of our seniors as we do now.”
Norwalk defended the decision, saying that many of the state’s seniors would be able to get comparable coverage under the Medicare Part D drug program, which had not been implemented in 2002 when SeniorCare was created.
