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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, July 30, 2002 		Contact: CMS Public Affairs
(202) 690-6145

HHS APPROVES EXPANDING PHARMACY BENEFITS
TO SOUTH CAROLINA SENIORS
Program to Provide Prescription Drug for 66,000 South Carolina Residents

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today approved a South Carolina program to provide Medicaid prescription drug benefits to low-income seniors. State officials estimate that as many as 66,000 South Carolina residents may be aided by the new program.

"This new program will mean real progress toward providing prescription drug coverage for those South Carolina seniors most in need," Secretary Thompson said. "While we work with Congress to establish a prescription drug benefit for all Medicare beneficiaries, programs like this one can provide immediate relief for seniors."

South Carolina is one of the first states to receive federal funding to extend Medicaid prescription drug coverage to seniors under the Pharmacy Plus initiative. HHS today also announced the approval of a similar program in Maryland and previously approved similar programs in Illinois and Wisconsin.

South Carolina's program targets those seniors with incomes up to twice the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). The FPL for 2002 is $8,860 for an individual. Participants would not otherwise be eligible for Medicaid and will receive only the drug benefit.

Since President Bush and Secretary Thompson announced the Pharmacy Plus initiative in January, many states are considering this type of Medicaid expansion to provide relief to low-income seniors in the face of increasing prescription drug costs.

Today's approvals come on the 37th anniversary of the day President Johnson signed the legislation that created the Medicare program to ensure seniors had adequate health coverage. By law, the Medicare program, which provides health coverage to about 40 million seniors and disabled Americans around the country, does not cover most prescription drugs.

South Carolina's program and the Pharmacy Plus initiative are authorized through an expansion of Medicaid, a state and federal partnership that provides health benefits, including prescription drugs, to more than 40 million low-income Americans.

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Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at www.hhs.gov/news.

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