State program offers seniors financial help with prescriptions

Published Dec 13, 2004 by
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GREENVILLE, N.C.   (Dec. 13, 2004)   —   Pitt County senior citizens will be able to sign up for the state’s prescription drug assistance program Friday, Dec. 17 at five sites around the county.

Those sites are the Brody Outpatient Clinic lobby on the campus of the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, Carolina East Mall, the JOY Community Resource Center at 700 Albemarle Ave. in Greenville, the Grimesland Community Resource Center at 550 River St. in Grimesland and the J.R. Harvey Community Resource Center at 540 Queen St. in Grifton. All sites will be open from 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

This program provides up to $1,200 in benefits each year. Seniors pay 10 percent of the cost of prescription drugs, with the balance of the cost coming from the $1,200 benefit. All unused benefits from 2004 will carry over to 2005 for those who sign up by Dec. 31, meaning seniors who sign up by Dec. 31 will have a total of $2,400 in benefits until Dec. 31, 2005. To qualify for the program, people must be at least 65 years old, live in North Carolina, have annual income of $23,275 or less for one person or $31,225 or less if married, and have no other prescription drug insurance, including Medicaid. People with Medicare + Choice, a Medigap policy or Veterans Administration drug assistance may still qualify for N.C. Senior Choice.

Friday’s sign-up sessions are being sponsored by the Brody School of Medicine, the Pitt County Council on Aging and Health Assist.

So far, more than 60,000 eligible North Carolina seniors have signed up for the program, but officials estimate more than 200,000 more are eligible but have not signed up. More information about N.C. Senior Choice is available online at ncseniorcare.com.

For more information about Friday’s sign-up sessions in Pitt County, call the Brody School of Medicine social work department at 744-3544.

Assistance in applying for N.C Senior Care is also available Mondays from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Pitt County Council on Aging. Call 752-1717 ext. 2 or 6 for more information.