AUGUSTA (AP) – Gov. John Baldacci and U.S. Rep. Tom Allen said Monday they will work to see that Congress keeps its word reimbursing Maine for costs it incurred making sure prescription drug benefits for low-income people were not interrupted when the federal Medicare program kicked in.

“We’ve heard similar promises from the federal government before,” Allen said at a news conference with fellow Democrat Baldacci. Allen said Maine has spent about $5 million to pay for drugs for the elderly and disabled that the government says should be covered.

Days earlier, Maine’s two Republican senators said they had been assured that Maine and 24 other states will be reimbursed.

Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, R-Maine, said Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt told them that private drug plans providing coverage to Medicare beneficiaries have committed to repaying states for the cost of the prescriptions.

State officials say many recipients’ prescriptions were rejected at pharmacies after the new Medicare program started earlier this month, and others were asked to pay much higher copays for their medications than they could afford.

Pharmacists began advancing medications to customers who were being overcharged by their plans or were missing from the federal Medicare database used to process claims.

The state offered to cover the prescriptions of low-income Medicare recipients who previously got their drugs through the state’s Medicaid program or its Drugs for the Elderly and Disabled program. State officials have said they expect the federal government to reimburse the state.

Snowe said Leavitt has the legal authority to ensure that private drug plans that provide coverage to Medicare beneficiaries reimburse states for their expenses in providing avoiding disruptions for drug benefit recipients.

The senator also said she is co-sponsoring legislation to reimburse affected states.

Allen said legislation he is sponsoring would also address flaws in the Medicare Part D program, including eliminating gaps in coverage he says have affected millions of disabled and elderly Americans.