Democrats press Bush for Medicare reimbursement

[deadparrot]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic lawmakers pressed the Bush administration on Tuesday to repay tens of millions of dollars to 46 states that stepped in to cover Medicare patient prescription drug costs during setbacks with the program's launch in January.

Some members of Congress in late January introduced legislation to force Medicare officials to pay back the states, but did not press the issue after officials assured them they would refund the money.

"We are disappointed that, to date, no state has actually been reimbursed," nine Democratic members of the House of Representatives said in an April 6 letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt released on Tuesday. Thirteen Democratic senators sent a separate appeal.

The voluntary prescription drug benefit allows seniors to choose from dozens of plans offered by health insurers and other companies. But initial computer troubles left thousands of mostly low-income patients without their medicines.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/medicare_dc