WASHINGTON (AP) – Anticipating fresh problems with the Medicare prescription drug plan, the Bush administration is telling private plans they need to provide an additional 60-day supply of medicine for emergency cases.

The move will give beneficiaries more time to find alternative treatments when their plan won’t cover a prescription.

The administration’s announcement came as pharmacists warned that new difficulties were possible as participants use up their initial 30-day emergency supply of medication.

The new prescription drug benefit under Medicare began Jan. 1. About 42 million senior citizens and disabled people are eligible to participate by enrolling in a private insurance plan. The benefit should lower drug costs for most participants because the government is subsidizing their drug costs.

In a review of the program’s first month, Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt acknowledged Wednesday that there were problems with the startup. “I make no excuses,” he said. “We own the problems.”

He also warned that there could be further problems in February as new people enrolled or participants switched plans late last month.

On a brighter note, however, he said the new benefit is working for the vast majority of senior citizens, and competition among the private plans was leading to lower costs for the program.

Those lower costs extend to beneficiaries.

They can now expect to pay an average of $25 a month for their insurance premiums, versus an early projection of about $37.

The lower costs also extend to taxpayers. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services now estimate the program will cost about $678 billion over 10 years rather than about $730 billion.

“We’re seeing the cost of drugs come down in a rapid way because of an organized, competitive marketplace,” Leavitt said.

Leavitt’s progress report was released the day before Mark McClellan, head of the HHS agency that oversees Medicare and Medicaid, was to give his assessment of the program’s start to the Senate Aging Committee. It’s the first time lawmakers will have the chance to question administration officials publicly about the program this year.

President Bush did not address the new benefit during his State of the Union address Tuesday night. Many Democrats and opponents of the program took note.

“I don’t see how the president could ignore the 800-pound gorilla in the room – the failing Medicare prescription drug plan,” said Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y. “I guarantee you that all members of Congress have heard from seniors about how confusing the plan is, and how difficult it is to get the medicine they need.”

However, Al Hubbard, director of the president’s National Economic Council, said several important issues did not get mentioned because of time constraints. Hubbard said the president is proud of “what the new drug benefit is going to do for retired Americans.”

Hubbard acknowledged that the rollout of the benefit hasn’t been a “perfect and seamless conversion, but we’re making an enormous amount of progress.”

Leavitt made a similar point several times in his progress report. He also said the agency is in the process of notifying plans they should provide an additional 60-day supply of drugs for beneficiaries who need a particular medicine not covered by their plan. He will formally tell all the insurers of the extension when he meets with their administrators Friday.

Another issue he said he would address with the plans is waiting times for customers, pharmacists and doctors. He said he plans to make the waiting times available to the public, which should lead to improvements.

He said beneficiaries could do more to ensure their plan can meet their needs by enrolling early in the month, ideally before the 15th, to allow for processing.