In a bipartisan effort, the New York State Assembly and Senate unanimously voted to override the governor’s veto of the legislation to protect seniors from the poorly implemented Medicare Part D plan by guaranteeing coverage for wrongfully denied, life-saving prescription medicine claims.

"I, as a New York State representative, could not stand idly by as senior citizens left pharmacies empty-handed," Assemblywoman Amy Paulin said. "For these seniors, when faced with a choice between even one of their medications and a month’s supply of food, they are forced to leave their medications behind. This is not a choice our seniors should have to make and it is vital that the New York government steps in to help these people."

Since January 1, thousands of New York’s seniors have not filled their prescriptions and are missing necessary medications because of errors in the transitions to the Medicare Part D plan. This mistake affected those seniors enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid, as their Medicaid status was never transferred to their new files. Those seniors lost their federally funded benefits for their Medicaid medications and few had personal funds to pay for their prescriptions.

"As the Bush Administration has already announced that they will reimburse New York for its payments, we found no reason to let the bill die," Assemblywoman Amy Paulin said. "It is a rare and wonderful moment when the entire legislature can move together in synchrony, and today, we made a crucial bipartisan move to protect our vulnerable seniors."