[1] Members are also given assistance with Medicare Part D.[5] Initial public response to the program, when introduced by New York State, had fewer participants than expected.
[1] EPIC[6] was established in 1986 to help income-eligible seniors with the high costs of prescription drugs; Paul E. Harenberg, Chairman of the New York State Assembly Committee on Aging, held hearings.
It soon became obvious that recent retirees faced a double problem: "sticker shock not only because you are at that age when you start to need more medications, but also because your insurance is picking up less of the cost.
[1] Unlike managed care plans,[8] "it helps people with their prescription drug costs without making them leave their current doctors and join H.M.O.'s.
"[7] Medicare-based pharmaceutical coverage is "delivered by private plans that can establish lists of preferred drugs and can steer patients to selected pharmacies" in contrast to how EPIC and some other states "pay for almost any prescription drug and allow beneficiaries to use virtually any pharmacy.