By Lindsay Tice,Staff Writer

Maine has spent $3.6 million to fill more than 68,000 prescriptions for elderly and disabled Mainers stranded during the last 10 days by Medicare Part D.

And the total is growing by hundreds of thousands of dollars every day.

“The question is, when are they going to fix this?” said Jude Walsh, who heads prescription drug programs for the Governor’s Office of Health Policy and Finance.

She and others want federal officials to correct the problems – now – and repay Maine for the millions it’s spending to give people medications they should have received through Medicare.

Federal officials say they’re working on the problem.

As far as federal money goes: “That can’t happen,” said Roseanne Pawelec, spokeswoman for this region’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The national drug program, called Medicare Part D, went into effect Jan. 1. It was supposed to be an easy way for the country’s elderly and disabled to get low-cost medications.

But problems arose immediately. Some people weren’t in the computer system, even though they had proof they were enrolled in the new drug program. Some were told they had a plan but it didn’t cover insulin or other medications they needed to live. Others got a plan and their drugs, but were charged up to $100 when they expected a $1 co-pay.

The day the program started, a state hot line received about 1,000 calls from concerned pharmacists and distressed customers. On Day Two, it received 6,800 calls. On Day Three, it received about 15,000.

The state held an emergency conference call with pharmacists and told them to fill all prescriptions. Customers would get a 30-day supply of medication, paid under their old prescription plan. The state promised payment, calling it a “safety net.”

Since then, Walsh said, eight other states have agreed to pay for drugs for their people.

In Maine, the Medicare situation has cost $3.6 million. As people run out of medications and need refills, the bill rises between $350,000 and $500,000 a day, Walsh said.

The state has so far paid for those medications through its Drugs for the Elderly program and $4 million earmarked last year for Medicare Part D issues. Walsh believes that money will last a month or two.

Both Sen. Michael Brennan, D-Portland, and Rep. Hannah Pingree, D-North Haven, have bills in the Legislature that would set aside more money for drugs. Both submitted their proposals before Medicare Part D began on Jan. 1 because they thought there might be a problem.

But, Pingree said, “We had no idea what a chaotic mess this would be.”

A week-and-a-half after the program started, state hot line calls are down to 2,000 a day. Walsh believes calls are down because customers can get their medications under their old prescription plan.

Pawelec, the federal spokeswoman, believes calls are down because people finally got their drug plan cards and because workers are fixing the computer issues and other problems that plagued the program.

“There are improvements day by day by day,” she said, adding that workers are “aggressively still troubleshooting.”

She did not know when the problems would be completely resolved.

Frustrated state officials want it to be soon. And when it’s all over, they want the federal government to reimburse Maine for the millions of dollars it’s spending on drugs.

Pawelec said that according to federal law, the government can’t repay the state. Instead, she said, federal officials would help Maine if it wanted to seek reimbursement from the various private insurance companies that oversee the 18 drug plans available here.

Walsh didn’t like that answer.

“That’s just not an acceptable alternative,” she said. “It looks like we have some things to discuss.”

Medicare Part D facts:

• The program started on Jan. 1 to provide the elderly and disabled with low-cost medications.

• Calls to a Maine Medicare hot line rose from 1,000 to 6,800 to 15,000 within the program’s first three days. Calls now average about 2,000 a day.

• The governor told pharmacists to fill all prescriptions, even if they had to put them under a customer’s old prescription plan. The state promised payment.

• The state has spent $3.6 million to fill more than 68,000 prescriptions so far. It costs the state between $350,000 and $500,000 a day.

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