For the costs of the drug insurance program under
section 39 of chapter 19A of the General Laws and for the operation of the prescription advantage program; provided, that amounts received by the executive office of aging and independence's vendor as premium revenue for this program may be retained and expended by the vendor for the program; provided further, that funds shall be expended for the operation of the pharmacy outreach program under
section 4C of chapter 19A of the General Laws; provided further, that notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, unless otherwise prohibited by federal law, prescription drug coverage or benefits payable by the executive office of aging and independence and the entities with which it has contracted for administration of the subsidized catastrophic drug insurance program under said
section 39 of said chapter 19A, shall be the payer of last resort for this program for eligible persons with regard to any other third-party prescription coverage or benefits available to the eligible persons; provided further, that the department shall seek to obtain maximum federal funding for discounts on prescription drugs available to the department and to prescription advantage enrollees; provided further, that the department shall take steps for the coordination of benefits with the Medicare prescription drug benefit created under the federal Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to ensure that Massachusetts residents take advantage of this benefit; provided further, that a person shall be eligible to enroll in the program at any time within a year after reaching age 65; provided further, that the department shall allow those who meet the program eligibility criteria to enroll in the program at any time during the year; and provided further, that funds shall be expended from this item to implement the pre-admission counseling and assessment program under the fourth paragraph of
section 9 of chapter 118E of the General Laws, which shall be implemented on a statewide basis through the Aging and Disability Resource Consortia
