Battling high prescription drug costs, hidden fees

Prescription drug costs are rising at three to four times the rate of inflation in some cases and there is often a large difference in prescription drug prices from retailer to retailer – sometimes in excess of $50 per prescription. To help seniors get their prescription drugs for less, Assemblywoman Lifton sponsored legislation to provide consumers with timely, competitive-pricing information for some of the most commonly-used prescription drugs (A.10991).

Assemblywoman Lifton also supported legislation to protect consumers from hidden fees and undisclosed conditions that have become common with gift certificates and gift cards by:

• Requiring vendors and retailers to eliminate any retroactive fees and prohibit them from collecting monthly service fees until after a gift certificate or gift card goes unused for 13 months (A.10333-B, awaiting governor’s signature)
• Requiring vendors to disclose the terms and conditions of a gift certificate or gift card at the time of purchase (A.10334-A, awaiting governor’s signature)

Providing tax relief

Assemblywoman Lifton sponsored legislation enhancing the Real Property Circuit Breaker Tax Credit for seniors (A.11704). Under her bill, the maximum benefit would rise to $750 and eligibility thresholds would increase.

Improving health services for rural seniors

Because rural communities face unique challenges in providing necessary health and social services to seniors, Lifton introduced legislation (A.9671) that would:

• Provide training in elderly support services – such as recreation, income assistance, transportation, wellness education, long-term home health care, supportive housing and institutional care – to front-line health care and social workers
• Help rural communities establish networks between one another – helping the communities share information and training to continue improving senior services