drug reimbursements

SALEM (AP) - Gov. Ted Kulongoski says federal officials are doing the right thing by pledging to reimburse Oregon and other states for emergency prescriptions for seniors who ran into trouble with the new Medicare drug benefit.

Oregon officials say they have fielded 2,200 calls and complaints from low-income seniors who have had trouble filling prescriptions under the new benefit, which began Jan. 1, and that the state so far has purchased a 30-day emergency supply of drugs for about 650 of those people.

On Tuesday, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt announced that states would receive full reimbursement for those costs. It said that private insurance plans that enroll people for the new benefit will cover most of the reimbursement paid to states with the federal government picking up the rest.

The reimbursement amount for Oregon will come to about $1.5 million, officials said.