House Bill 1260, sponsored by Reps. Wendi Thomas and Steve Samuelson, was recently signed into law by Gov. Tom Wolf.
Now Act 94 of 2021, it expands the income eligibility limits for PACENET and removes the PACENET premium clawback, which will result in premium cost savings for some enrollees. The clawback will only apply to those individuals in the program’s Part D partner plans. This will reduce the premium obligations for about 28,000 individuals. The law expands PACENET income limits by $6,000: singles from $27,500 to $33,500; married from $35,500 to $41,500.
Also signed into law was House Bill 291, sponsored by Rep. Shelby Labs. Now Act 92 of 2021, it extends the moratorium until Dec. 31, 2023 to allow enrollees to maintain their PACENET benefits despite disqualifying increases in their overall income due to Social Security cost-of-living adjustments. The original moratorium was set to expire on Dec. 31, 2021.
PACE and PACENET currently enroll more than 250,000 older Pennsylvanians. The income limit expansions mean that an additional 100,000 older adults are now eligible. An additional 20,000 older adults are expected to enroll in 2022. Enrollment begins in February.
“The PACE and PACENET programs serve as lifelines for hundreds of thousands of older adults who need assistance with paying for their prescription medications. These two new laws will continue to help older Pennsylvanians get the savings they need and deserve and allow even more seniors to take advantage of these programs,” said Tom Snedden, PACE director.
