title: Geography still dictates Rx coverage for many near-poor seniors and disabled persons.
abstract: State-to-state differences in generosity of assistance programs targeted toward poor seniors and people with disabilities have always been the "price of federalism." Typically, these differences are vitiated when federal law enters a field. Not so with the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003. States' choices of how much of the uncovered burden of prescription drug costs is left to near-poor elderly and disabled residents continues to vary widely even though Medicare began to provide pharmaceutical coverage beginning January 2006. The purpose of this article is to address the role that state policies play in promoting continued variation in access to prescription drugs.
authors.affiliation: The A. Alfred Taubman Center for Public Policy and American Institutions, Brown University, 67 George St, Box 1977, Providence, RI 02912, USA. edward_a_miller@brown.edu
authors.forename: Edward Alan
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: William G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Weissert
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D006291:Health Policy; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D019458:Insurance Coverage / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007356:Insurance, Pharmaceutical Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008484:Medicaid / Q000458:organization & administration; D006278:Medicare / Q000458:organization & administration; D013219:State Government