Besides long waits on Medicare's busy telephone hot line, some people went without their prescriptions or paid large sums out-of-pocket, said Michael Hales, Utah's Medicaid director.

Through March 8, the state had paid $909,040 to cover the so-called dual eligibles, those receiving both Medicaid and Medicare benefits, Hales said. That doesn't include administrative costs, which haven't been tallied yet.

"That was within the range of what we expected," Hales said. "We anticipated we would spend half a million dollars to $1 million, with the worst case being $3.8 million. Most of the issues have been corrected."

Since many of the problems have dwindled, the state no longer will pick up the tab for dual eligibles having difficulty, he added.

Now, the state is waiting to be reimbursed by the federal government, which Hales hopes will happen by May.

The state's roughly 21,000 dual eligibles were supposed to be automatically and randomly transferred to one of the new private prescription drug plans Jan. 1. Some fell through the cracks; others discovered that the plans they were enrolled in didn't cover the drugs they were taking.

Utah is one of 44 states Medicare will reimburse after reconciling drug payments with prescription drug plans. The federal government will pay any difference between the drug plan reimbursement and Medicaid costs, as well as state administrative expenses.

"Governor [Jon] Huntsman [Jr.] and Utah Medicaid officials worked closely with us to make sure the transition to Medicare drug coverage went as smooth as possible, and this partnership has helped Medicare beneficiaries get their coverage more quickly," former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt, now secretary for Health and Human Services, said in a statement.

At a speech Tuesday in upstate New York, President Bush praised the benefit, saying more than 26 million people have signed up in 10 weeks since it took effect.

"You'll hear me make the case: It's a good deal," Bush said. "Now don't take my word for it. I would hope people would seek advice . . . as to whether or not it's a good deal."

As of Feb. 22, more than half the Utahns with Medicare coverage had signed up, with 129,005 of 235,000 eligible recipients enrolling themselves or being automatically placed in plans by the government.

Of the 21,000 dual eligibles, 20,028 were receiving coverage by that date.

Medicare officials said they expected to release new enrollment numbers next week.

"We are literally enrolling thousands of people in Utah every week," said Mike Fierberg, spokesman for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services office in Denver. "People are getting the message that this is a benefit worth looking into. That's gratifying because our job here is to help beneficiaries."

To sign up by e-mail, visit http://www.medicare.gov or call 1-800-Medicare. The deadline to enroll without penalty is May 15.

chamilton@sltrib.com

“Governor [Jon] Huntsman [Jr.] and Utah Medicaid officials worked closely with us to make sure the transition to Medicare drug coverage went as smooth as possible, and this partnership has helped Medicare beneficiaries get their coverage more quickly.”

MIKE LEAVITT - Secretary of Health and Human Services