Doyle Asks Feds to Preserve SeniorCare

Doyle Asks Feds to Preserve SeniorCare

Friday - June 30, 2006

Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. - The governor sent a letter to federal health officials Thursday asking them to renew the state's prescription drug discount program for seniors for another three years.

The federal waiver that allows SeniorCare to exist expires next year, and the popular program faces an uncertain future in the face of the new federal Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit.

SeniorCare, which enrolls more than 110,000 Wisconsin seniors, uses a mix of federal and state funding. Last year the federal government threatened to eliminate funding for the program, arguing Medicare Part D would make SeniorCare unnecessary.

Gov. Jim Doyle persuaded U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt to allow SeniorCare to survive until June 30, 2007.

Doyle noted in his letter to Leavitt that SeniorCare enrollment has grown by 25 percent over the last year and has saved state seniors more than $203 million over fiscal year 2006. Doyle added the state is working to set up citizen requirements for SeniorCare that are more stringent than Medicare Part D's standards.

SeniorCare also has saved the federal government in Medicaid payments by keeping more money in seniors' hands and keeping them healthier longer, Doyle said in the letter.

"In short, Wisconsin's SeniorCare program is a lifeline for 110,000 seniors, and has helped to make their prescription drugs more affordable," Doyle said in the letter. "Not only does it save seniors money, it saves taxpayers money."

Peter Ashkenaz, a spokesman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said his office hadn't received Doyle's letter yet but would review it.

http://www.doylelawton.com/content/view/78/27/