Seniors seek wider access to healthcare savings
Photo | Courtesy of Chris Van Buskirk, State House News Service
Massachusetts Senior Action Council President Edna Pruce rallied advocates before visiting legislators to urge passage of a bill to expand health care savings.
A wave of people clad in blue shirts blanketed Room 428 Wednesday as advocates affiliated with the Massachusetts Senior Action Council went over facts and stats before visiting legislators to talk about ways to help more more people afford prescriptions and other health care costs.
Council President Edna Pruce told attendees to hold their heads high knowing that they were attempting to expand savings secured through recent lobbying to another 56,000 seniors with incomes under $2,000 a month.
"Remember we are mighty, we are strong, we are Mass. Senior Action," she said to a round of applause.
Activists are urging lawmakers to pass a bill (H 1199/S 699) expanding savings to more senior citizens. Individuals under 300 percent of the federal poverty level qualify for state Connector Care assistance up until age 65. After that, only those at 165 percent or below can receive assistance through a Medicare Savings Plan. This creates a financial dilemma for many seniors with incomes just above the limit, activists said.
The legislation, which was written before Gov. Charlie Baker and the Legislature raised the threshold this year from 135 percent of the federal poverty level, would have increased the limit to 200 percent over three years. With the first jump to get to 165 percent already accomplished, supporters of the bill still want to phase in an eligibility expansion to 200 percent.
Legislators estimate the expanded program would cost the state $30 million, which would trigger $200 million in new federal prescription drug benefits, according to a communications aide.
Bill sponsor Sen. Brendan Crighton (D-Lynn) cited statistics that he said tell a powerful story.
"Just a couple that stand out, one in three low-income seniors spending more than 20 percent of their income on health care, six in 10 Massachusetts elders living alone, not having the income to meet their most basic need. Those facts are so powerful," Crighton said.
Fran Hutchinson, president of the council's Bristol chapter, said she applied for the Medicare Savings Plan and if she's accepted hopes to use the savings to go to the dentist.
"I haven't been to able to go to a dentist in 25 years," she said, noting the potential to leverage federal funds with a state outlay. "I want to encourage [legislators] to stay on board and to stay with us to get it up 200 percent."
Gov. Charlie Baker and both the House and Senate included language mirroring the first year of the threshold schedule in their fiscal 2020 budget proposals. Advocates from the senior action council also lobbied lawmakers in July to pass legislation in the House and Senate. At a Joint Committee on Health Care Financing hearing, speakers shared personal stories of navigating dire financial circumstances while in declining health.
Pruce said success came after countless hours strategizing and preparing followed by days of testifying and visiting with legislators.
"There were certainly times when it felt that our voices were not heard but that did not stop us because we knew we had no choice," she said at Wednesday's event. "We knew that if we didn't speak up that change would not have happened."
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