CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – A visibly angry Gov. John Lynch signed an emergency executive order Friday guaranteeing pharmacists payment if they give a 10-day supply of drugs to the elderly having problems under the new federal Medicare program.

“Getting prescriptions filled is a matter of life or death,” said Lynch, who was flanked by House and Senate leaders.

“This is an emergency situation,” agreed House Speaker Douglas Scamman.

The Legislature will meet in special session Tuesday to appropriate money to pay for the drugs until problems with the program can be fixed. Lynch and legislative leaders said they will seek reimbursement later from the federal government and private insurance.

Lynch and legislative leaders called the new drug program a “disaster” and soundly criticized federal officials for not being ready when it was launched last Sunday.

Roseanne Pawelec, Medicare’s New England spokeswoman, said Friday that federal authorities are working as quickly as possible to resolve the problems experienced in New Hampshire.

Lynch’s order covers people receiving Medicaid who were supposed to begin getting drugs under the Medicare program. Pharmacists who try to enter a patient’s name only to find the Medicare system doesn’t recognize it are authorized under Lynch’s order to fill the prescription anyway with a 10 day supply.

State officials hope the problems will be resolved quickly, though Lynch was not optimistic. He said the state could need up to $1 million to cover the drug costs if it takes weeks to fix.

“It’s difficult to know how much money this will cost or how long it will need to be in place,” he said.

Older people enrolled in the new Medicare program are supposed to be able to get prescriptions for co-pays around $1 to $3, but some haven’t received their insurance cards yet or aren’t in computer databases used by pharmacies to verify eligibility.

Medicare is the federal health insurance mostly for retirees; Medicaid is mainly for the poor. On Sunday, prescription coverage shifted from Medicaid to Medicare.

People having most of the problems appear to be those who were covered by Medicaid, but now are covered by Medicare.

The state’s prescription benefit manager, First Health, was to send a fax Friday to pharmacies authorizing them to begin overriding denials from Medicare, said Health and Human Services Commissioner John Stephen.

Some people expecting to pay $1 to $3 have reported being charged $30 or more. In other cases, pharmacies have said they do not have enough billing information, or people who thought they had signed up for drug coverage had not.

Stephen said he did not know how many of the 18,000 residents with dual eligibility under Medicaid and Medicare are experiencing problems.

“Even one or two is too many,” said Lynch.

Medicare has a backup plan for handling problems nationwide, but Stephen said it isn’t working smoothly.

“They’re showing up and being told they’re not in the system,” Stephen said of people seeking prescriptions.

Federal officials say that despite scattered problems, the program is working for most people.

Pawelec earlier said anyone unable to fill a prescription should call 1-800-MEDICARE.

But people who call that number or hotlines run by insurance companies are reporting long waits in some instances and no help in others.

Sherri Collins of Manchester told the Concord Monitor she would soon have to pay cash for her mother’s asthma medication.

“In between changing my mom’s sheets three times a day, and giving her a shower and crushing her meds to put them in the feeding tube, I call the pharmacy and they say, “No, you can’t get the drugs you need to stay alive,”‘ said Collins, whose mother has Parkinson’s disease. “I don’t have the time to be on the phone begging for her medicine. I need that time to take care of her.”

Collins said her mother’s insurance card had not arrived yet. Until she gets it, the pharmacy will charge her full price for her mother’s medications.