CARSON CITY - An insurance company from Kansas City, Mo., has been selected to run Gov. Kenny Guinn's senior citizen prescription drug program, which could cover up to 10,000 people with incomes of less than $21,000 a year.
Guinn announced Thursday that Fidelity Security Life Insurance/Professional Risk and Asset Management Insurance Services will provide the coverage. The company was selected from five that submitted bids last month.
As part of the contract, Pharmaceutical Care Network will provide pharmacy benefit management for the program, the governor said.
The program provides a subsidy to eligible senior citizens of up to $40 a month, depending on income.
The start-up of the program was delayed after a first invitation for bids drew only one plan, from a company not licensed in the state.
A health-care committee then refused to release several million dollars for the plan until it could evaluate the winning bidder.
Assemblywoman Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, co-chairwoman of the committee, said she has not seen the proposed insurance policy of Fidelity Security. She intends to hold a hearing to get comment from seniors and health experts.
Guinn hopes to start signing up senior citizens for the ''SenioRx'' coverage in early January.
''This is an important step in the implementation of SenioRx, which will help low-income Nevada seniors afford the prescription medicine many of them cannot live without,'' he said.