HARRISBURG — Attorney General Tom Corbett announced that more than $1.6 million in settlement funds from two cases involving pharmacy benefit management companies will now be used to provide pre scri ption drug benefits to Pennsylvania residents who are disabled and uninsured.
Corbett said that a total of $1,613,987, plus interest, has been turned over to the Pennsylvania Department of Aging, which operates the state’s PACE pre scri ption assistance program, in order to provide pre scri ption drug benefits to Pennsylvanians who are disabled but are forced to wait for several years before receiving federal pre scri ption coverage.
“Individuals who qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance must currently wait for two years before they can receive pre scri ption drug benefits,” Corbett said. “That extended wait can be an extreme hardship for people who are uninsured, unable to work because of their disability and faced with a limited income.”
Corbett said the funds being turned over to PACE include $1,228,478 from a multi-state settlement with Tennessee-based Caremark, which was accused of misleading consumers and businesses into using more expensive drugs, manipulating the way consumers and their employers were billed for various drugs and failing to share drug company discounts or rebates that reduced drug costs.
Corbett said the Attorney General’s Office has also turned over $385,508 from a multi-state settlement involving Delaware-based Express scri pts, Inc., which was accused of switching consumers to more expensive or higher-profit drugs.
“I am pleased that we are able to use these settlement funds to help people who are working to overcome their disabilities while struggling with a federal bureaucracy that forces them to wait several years before getting access to much-needed pre scri ption medication,” Corbett said. “To date, more than 300 Pennsylvanians have been identified as eligible for this new pre scri ption drug program, and we expect that number to continue growing, all at no cost to taxpayers.”
Pennsylvania residents who qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance and are currently uninsured and without pre scri ption benefits can receive more information by contacting the Pennsylvania Patient Assistance Program Clearinghouse at 1-800-955-0989.
Corbett thanked the Pennsylvania Department of Aging and Community Legal Services of Philadelphia for their cooperation and assistance in developing this new program.