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SPONSOR: |
Picraux |
DATE TYPED: |
02/24/03 |
HB |
513/aHCPAC |
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SHORT TITLE: |
Senior Prescription Drug Program Efficiency |
SB |
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ANALYST: |
Geisler |
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APPROPRIATION
Appropriation
Contained |
Estimated
Additional Impact |
Recurring or
Non-Rec |
Fund Affected |
||
FY03 |
FY04 |
FY03 |
FY04 |
|
|
|
|
.01 See
Narrative |
.01 See Narrative |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(Parenthesis
( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Retiree Health Care Authority (RHCA)
SUMMARY
Synopsis
of HCPAC Amendments
The
House Consumer & Public Affairs amendments require that the RHCA board of
directors include one classified state employee member selected by the Personnel
Board, rather than by election the amendment also adds an emergency clause to the
bill.
Elimination of the requirement to hold an election every four years to select the state employee board member will save approximately $40.0 per election. The RHCA supports this change but is concerned that it may require the replacement of the current state employee board member before expiration of their term in June 2004.
The emergency clause will provide immediate relief from the responsibility of collecting senior prescription drug program enrollment fees and administering an additional eligibility criterion. This will encourage more people to apply to the program and free up more staff time.
Synopsis
of Original Bill
HB
513 amends portions of the Senior Prescription Drug program (SPDP) legislation
(Section 10-7C-17) to eliminate the eligibility requirement that applicants
have no other prescription drug benefit; modify the authorization for annual
fees from “shall collect” to “may assess”; change the name of annual fees from
“enrollment fees” to “administrative fees”; and modify the requirement that
participants present issued membership cards to pharmacies to simply allow for
pharmacy use of membership ID.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
Under
current law, RHCA is required to collect an “enrollment fee” of up to $60.00
per year. This bill proposes a charge to
allow an annual “administrative fee” with the same limitation. More people are likely to benefit from this
program if it can be administered without enrollment/administrative fees.
RHCA
the pursue an arrangement with the prescription benefit administrator where the
SPDP fund will receive$2.00 for each mail order prescription filled. That $2.00 is projected to provide sufficient
funding to administer the program after start-up.
For
start-up costs, the State Agency on Aging has agreed to donate $30.0 of goods
and services through a joint powers agreement.
DFA has authorized the RHCA to utilize existing personnel, with those
personal services values to be repaid to the authority fund once the SPDP has
amassed sufficient funds to do so. If
future costs exceed available resources, the amendment would allow RHCA to
impose annual fees on participants.
OTHER
SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES
Technical
impact of fee terminology amendment: If
fees are collected annually as required under current law, then technically
they are not “enrollment fees” since enrollment takes place only once. “Administrative fees” is a more appropriate
terminology.
Practical
impact of requiring or not requiring participants to present ID cards: Under current law, RHCA “shall . . . require
the [membership cards] to be presented to pharmacies for each
transaction.” It is not possible to
police whether or not members elect to use the program for each
transaction. It is more realistic to
require RHCA to “enroll and provide participants with electronic or other form
of membership identification for use by pharmacies for each transaction,” as proposed
in the bill.
GG/njw:sb