By Lindsay Tice,Staff Writer

After today, states won’t get reimbursed if they continue to offer a “safety net” and pay for medications that should be covered under the federal government’s new drug program.

But Maine is asking for more time, saying more than 15,000 Mainers are still having trouble with the beleaguered Medicare Part D program, and they need the state to pay for their medications.

“We have an obligation to help them,” said Jude Walsh, head of prescription drug programs for the Governor’s Office of Health Policy and Finance.

Medicare Part D was supposed to be an easy way for the country’s elderly and disabled to get low-cost medications. But problems arose as soon as the program started on Jan. 1. 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 the medications they needed. Others got a plan and their drugs but were charged up to $100 when they had expected a $1 co-pay.

On Jan. 3, 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.” Other states and cities soon followed.

Maine has paid about $4 million for drugs so far.

Problems are slowly getting fixed, Walsh said, but a state audit shows that more than 15,000 people are being wrongly charged deductibles and large co-pays.

“The numbers are going down, but it’s still a significant amount of people,” she said.

If granted, the extension would allow Maine to be reimbursed for money it spends on drugs until March 8. In return, Maine pharmacists would have to show that they tried to use the Medicare Part D, and they billed the state only as a last resort.

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