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State Lawmakers Seek New Prescription Drug Aid Program For Seniors

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (CBS) -- Lawmakers who say the state health care cuts went too far are trying to move the pendulum back.

As WBBM Newsradio's Dave Dahl reports, the proposed drug program for seniors would at least partially make up the loss of Illinois Cares Rx, which provided state prescription assistance to low-income people until it was sacrificed as part of a Medicaid fix.

"To be eligible for this program that we're calling the Seniors' Pharmaceutical Assistance Relief Program, citizens have to be 65 or older, they have to live in Illinois, and their income has to be at 200 percent of federal poverty level," said state Sen. Naomi Jakobsson (D-Urbana.)

Jakobsson says Gov. Pat Quinn has perhaps freed up enough money from other cuts to pay for the senior drug program.

She says she hopes to move the bill forward at the General Assembly's Fall Veto Session in November.

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio's Dave Dahl reports

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