Drug copays would help N.J. budget

Nearly 500,0000 people with low incomes would pay up to $10 a month for prescription drugs under Gov. Corzine's budget proposal.

An additional 7,500 who receive free drugs for HIV and AIDS would pay between $6 and $30 per prescription as part of the budget-cutting measures detailed in documents released yesterday.

The two changes would cost the prescription beneficiaries - and save the state - $6 million to help balance Corzine's $30 billion budget proposal.

Ending coverage of medicine for erectile dysfunction under Medicaid and the state senior-citizens prescription program would save an additional $3.3 million.

By now, advocates for the needy are used to seeing Medicaid co-pays pitched by governors of both parties. The Rev. Bruce Davidson, one of the leaders of the Anti-Poverty Network, said the plan had been proposed in some shape or form in every budget he had worked on in nine years.

"Every year it is removed by the Legislature after advocates scream about it, and we intend to scream about it again," said Davidson, director of the Lutheran Office of Governmental Ministry in New Jersey.

Administration officials say the two charges are part of spreading the burden of balancing the budget.

"The governor has made it clear that despite the $7 billion shortfall, the administration would make every effort to protect the most vulnerable," Treasury spokesman Tom Vincz said. "He also made clear that this is a crisis that affects all citizens, and that while we seek to minimize the burden on the most vulnerable through this budget, all citizens still must share some responsibility for balancing our finances."

The Medicaid co-pays would be $2 per prescription, capped at $10 a month.

Last year, co-pays rose by $1 for generic drugs and $2 for brand names under a prescription program for senior citizens. The Medicaid proposal was dropped.

New Jersey's Medicaid program covers about 1.1 million people, but children and pregnant women, who account for roughly 600,000 of the participants, would not have to pay the new charges, Department of Human Services spokeswoman Pam Ronan sadi.

People who earn less than 150 percent of the federal poverty level - $16,245 for an individual or $33,075 for a family of four - are eligible for Medicaid.

Davidson said that for people on that little income, even $10 a month, up to $120 per year, is a burden.

"To tack an added charge on medical care to people who are already just at the very bottom of the income barrel just seems unnecessary," he said.

He added that the increased costs could lead to health risks. "When you put a co-pay on something, it discourages people from accessing medicine that they do need."

The HIV/AIDS program provides free medicine to people who don't qualify for Medicaid or other prescription programs. The income cap is 500 percent of the federal poverty line, or about $54,000 for an individual and $110,250 for a family of four.

People who fall below the poverty line, $22,050 for a family of four, would not pay for their AIDS prescriptions. There would be a sliding scale of co-pays for others, who would pay $6, $15, or $30 per prescription, depending on income. Those earning 320 percent of poverty or more would pay the top rate.

While co-pays would rise, so would state spending, by an estimated $6.1 million, according to the budget documents.

Department of Health and Senior Services spokeswoman Donna Leusner said the program provided a "safety net" for people who did not qualify for other prescription benefits.

Davidson criticized these charges as well. "It seems unnecessary to add an additional burden to people who are already struggling to maintain their health," he said.

New Jersey lobbyists and residents will get their first formal chance to weigh in on the spending plan when the Senate budget committee holds a hearing Tuesday at the Rutgers University Law School's Camden campus.