Daily Chronicle | With Illinois Cares Rx gone, elderly struggle with drug costs

 

Illinois Cares Rx program ended just weeks after Gov. Pat Quinn signed legislation axing it in an effort to save $72 million and help fill a $2.7 billion hole in the Illinois Medicaid budget – giving seniors and the disabled, who also qualified for the program, little time to plan.

At the time, some agencies advised worried seniors to get a 90-day supply of their prescription drugs.

Now they’re bracing for another surge of calls when seniors need medication refills they can no longer afford.

. About 168,000 seniors and disabled people were enrolled in the program when it ended. Of those, about 143,000 are 65 and older and about 25,000 are disabled people younger than 65.

They include individuals who make less than $22,340 a year and couples who make less than $30,260 a year.

Because the program had no restrictions on assets, people could have large bank accounts and still be eligible.

Click on the following to read all of the story:  Daily Chronicle | With Illinois Cares Rx gone, elderly struggle with drug costs