Ohio targets Rx help for poor, elderly.

• Position: Trends And Transitions - Brief Article

The Ohio General Assembly has approved a prescription drug discount plan that allows uninsured people with low to moderate incomes and seniors 60 and over without prescription coverage to buy drugs at discounted prices.

Ohio's Best Rx Program provides discounts of up to 40 percent for approximately 1.7 million state residents. It covers people at or below 250 percent of the federal poverty level ($22,450 for an individual or $46,000 for a family of four), and seniors of any income who don't have prescription insurance. One of the unusual features of the program is that there are no age limits--only Hawaii, Maine and Vermont share that approach. And it does not restrict drug choices to...