Connie Williams: Santorum's misdeeds

Just a few weeks ago, I joined Governor Rendell and a long list of both Democrats and Republicans to announce a groundbreaking expansion of Pennsylvania's PACE program, an expansion that would reverse years of decline by helping 100,000 new seniors pay for their prescription drugs.

My colleagues on both sides of the aisle embraced the PACE bill because they knew that it would bring relief to many senior citizens. A few days later, the House of Representatives voted 200 to 0 to approve House Bill 888 and leaders on both sides were predicting quick action in the Senate.

Soon after, however, United States Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) came to Harrisburg on a campaign to kill the expansion of PACE in Pennsylvania. In meetings with Senate Republicans, Santorum started a disinformation campaign to pull the rug out from underneath our seniors.

Sen. Santorum has convinced my Republican colleagues to stall the expansion of PACE. He supports federal legislation that would offer senior citizens limited prescription coverage only through private insurers, instead of through state-sponsored programs like PACE. To make things worse, Sen. Santorum said he would work against an amendment that could provide $250 million to Pennsylvania for expanded benefits.

There is no excuse for what has happened to Pennsylvania's PACE reform since Sen. Santorum's visit, and there is no reason for seniors to wait weeks and months to find out whether they will be able to afford the medicine they need.

Sen. Santorum should not be a traffic cop for the Pennsylvania General Assembly.

Pennsylvania seniors have a chance to win both at the state level through the passage of the bi-partisan PACE and PACENET bill, and on the federal level with legislation that will protect and expand what we can offer.

This situation is simple: win-win, or lose-lose.

Unfortunately, however, Sen. Santorum has opted for the lose-lose scenario by putting the brakes on Pennsylvania's bi-partisan initiatives. He is forcing our seniors into a federal drug program so confusing and expensive that it will take a team of lawyers and a day in line at the Social Security office to get a bottle of heart medication.

This situation is a shame, because Pennsylvania has been a national leader in providing health care to children and seniors for many years. There's no reason why we can't continue to lead.

It's difficult and painful for those of us who have made a commitment to helping lower the cost of drugs for our seniors, and who have fought for years to do this, to watch this happen.

Just last year I successfully amended legislation in Committee that would have provided a FAIRX Discount Prescription Card that would have made many more seniors eligible for significantly lower prescription drug prices.

Seniors who currently are in the PACE program pay about $300 or 25 percent of their annual drug costs, with the state picking up the rest. Under the Santorum plan, our seniors would pay $3,700 or 85 percent of their annual drug costs. That's not reform.

Sen. Santorum and his colleagues want to create another monstrous federal bureaucracy that will put our seniors, who have convenient and quality drug coverage now, at the end of the line. Their federal plan will add more paperwork, more bureaucracy, more confusion, more loopholes and more frustration --- all in exchange for less coverage.

The seniors of Pennsylvania need more help, not more paperwork. They need more coverage, not more red tape.

All over Pennsylvania, there are seniors cutting pills in half, delaying refills, and worrying about making ends meet at the end of the month.

There is no reason to wait any longer. Connie Williams is a Democratic Pennsylvania State Senator representing Delaware and Montgomery counties.

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