Dec. 29, 2015
HARRISBURG – Today,
House Bill 777, sponsored by Rep. Seth Grove (R-Dover) was signed into law as Act 91 of 2015 by Gov. Tom Wolf.
The legislation extends protections to seniors enrolled in PACE and PACENET who would have lost eligibility for these programs due to increases in income from Social Security cost-of-living adjustments (COLA). The PACE and PACENET programs provide low-cost prescription drug coverage for seniors.
Grove previously sponsored this legislation in the 2013-14 legislative session where it became Act 12 of 2014 and protected 11,416 seniors from losing PACE and PACENET eligibility through Dec. 31, 2015. Act 91 continues these protections until Dec. 31, 2017.
While the Social Security Administration has recently announced that there will be no COLA in 2016, this does not impact PACE/PACENET eligibility until 2017. Last year, the Social Security Administration approved a 1.7 percent COLA. If House Bill 777 did not become law, nearly 12,000 senior citizens, including 297 in York County, would be ineligible for PACE/PACENET coverage next year.
“I am thankful to have had unanimous support from my colleagues in the General Assembly and for the governor’s signature in approving this commonsense legislation. Twelve thousand seniors across Pennsylvania will continue to have access to affordable prescriptions now that my legislation has become law,” said Grove.
Representative Seth Grove
196th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Eric Reath
717.260-6187
ereath@pahousegop.com
RepGrove.com /
Facebook.com/RepSethGrove