NEWS RELEASE

Date: Jan. 25, 2006
Contact: Stephanie Goodman, (512) 424-6951

HHSC Renews Medicaid Drug Coverage
for Low-Income Texans Having Problems With Medicare

AUSTIN – At the direction of Gov. Rick Perry, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) will provide Medicaid prescription drug coverage for low-income Texans who are inappropriately denied medications under the new Medicare drug plans.

“Our first concern is making sure Texans have access to their medications,” said Health and Human Services Executive Commissioner Albert Hawkins. “So far, we have been working with our federal partners on a case-by-case basis. Today’s action will allow us to make sure low-income Texans get the medications they need without any delay.”

The state expects full reimbursement for the costs of restoring Medicaid coverage through a federal plan announced Tuesday, Hawkins said. Under the plan, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services agreed that states will be fully reimbursed for their efforts to ensure low-income residents continue to receive their medications as they move to Medicare drug coverage.

More than 320,000 Texas residents who qualified for both Medicaid and Medicare were automatically enrolled in Medicare prescription drug coverage on Jan. 1 as part of a nationwide rollout of the new federal program. Known as “dual eligibles,” these Texas residents had their prescriptions covered by the Texas Medicaid program before Medicare coverage began Jan. 1.

Hawkins said state Medicaid coverage would resume today for dual eligibles experiencing problems with the federal program.

HHSC will continue to work with federal officials to ensure that issues with the federal program are resolved and to determine the number of Texans who are affected by the problems.

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For more information about Medicare prescription coverage, visit www.texasmedicarerx.org.