Lawmaker kicks off drug cost campaign

Under proposals, the state would help seniors with prescriptions. The AARP and other groups are involved.

By ERIC STIRGUS

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 15, 2000

LARGO -- The prescription that would offer Florida's seniors financial relief in buying expensive medications can be summarized in a word:

Pressure.

Lots of pressure.

Pressure on state lawmakers. Pressure on the governor. Pressure on anyone who can help their cause.

A bit of that pressure was on display Monday as a state representative and several local groups held a news conference to urge the 3.6-million Floridians older than 60 to support several forms of legislation that would help them buy medication cheaply.

"While you are writing your letters, make sure you write the governor," state Rep. Nancy Argenziano, R-Dunnellon, urged those gathered at the Largo Community Center before reading the governor's e-mail address.

Under a bill proposed by Argenziano, the state would help about 45,000 seniors buy prescription drugs by giving them as much as $1,200 per year. To qualify, a single senior could make no more than $7,417 per year; senior couples could make no more $9,955, according to the bill.

Additionally, the state would buy medication from drug manufacturers and then pass the savings that come from buying vast amounts of drugs in bulk onto Medicaid recipients. Just how that would work has not been determined, Argenziano said Monday.

A Senate bill, among other things, would pay all drug costs for seniors after they spend 10 percent of their income on drugs and would force pharmacies to lower their drug prices for qualified Medicaid recipients.

Monday's event was just one of many activities that will take place in the coming weeks to rally seniors.

Next week, members of the Florida Silver-Haired Legislature, Inc., a 1,000-member advocacy group for seniors, will gather in Tallahassee to testify before the Senate and House Committees on Health and Long-term Care. The group's effort will include letters to newspapers, rallies, telephone calls to lawmakers and more press conferences.

"The real constituency needs to be heard, and we can make a difference, but we have to be active," said Ernest Wm. "Ernie" Bach, a key member of the group, who served on the Largo City Commission from 1987 to 1990.

Meanwhile, the state AARP is planning a major awareness campaign among its 2.3-million members. The efforts will include sending letters to key contacts and volunteers and messaging everyone on its e-mail list.

"We're going to use a variety of strategies," said Lyn Bodiford, state legislative representative for the AARP, one of the state's largest and most influential advocacy groups.

The issue was a hot topic during the last legislative session, said Liz Hirst, a spokeswoman for Gov. Jeb Bush. About 10 letters a week have come to the governor's office on the issue in recent months, she said.

In addition to Argenziano's bill, a legislative aide for state Senate Majority Leader Jack Latvala, R-Palm Harbor, talked about his boss' bill that would allow pharmacists to offer consumers cheaper generic alternatives to 11 brand-name drugs.

Five million Americans have to choose between paying for their prescriptions or eating, Bach said.

"They couldn't afford to buy macaroni and cheese," Bach said of a woman who called his office a couple of weeks ago. "They were eating cat food."

-- Information from Times files was used in this report.

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