SAN DIEGO - Assembly Member Lori Saldaña (D-San Diego) will be joined by local fellow Assembly Member Juan Vargas (D-San Diego) and organizations serving seniors and persons with disabilities at a rally Wednesday to protest the failure of the new Medicare Part D drug program.

“In addition to being overly complicated and rife with red tape, the Administration-backed program has left hundreds of thousands of California’s seniors and disabled citizens without access to their medications,” Saldaña said.

The rally will take place at 9:00 am in front of the State Building on Front Street in Downtown San Diego. Speakers will include Leane Marchese, Executive Director of ElderHelp; Gregory Knoll, Executive Director of Consumer Center for Health Education; and Johanna Malaret, program manager for Christie’s Place, a support center for women and families living with HIV/AIDS.

The Bush Administration’s prescription drug benefit program was passed by Congress last year and took effect on January 1st. While the program is voluntary for most Medicare beneficiaries, it is mandatory for the elderly poor and disabled persons eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid, many of whom were denied coverage, endured lengthy delays, or were required to pay exorbitant premiums before receiving their prescriptions.

After an estimated 200,000 eligible Californians were denied coverage, state lawmakers approved an emergency measure last week appropriating $150 million to temporarily cover prescription drug costs. After initially denying responsibility for paying back California and 20 other states forced to take similar measures, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services announced a reimbursement plan late Tuesday.

Saldaña is hoping the rally will help increase pressure on Congress and the Administration to take further steps to overhaul or scrap the program.

“I would encourage both sides in Washington to work together so the program does what backers said it would do – help the elderly poor and people with disabilities get their medications while reducing the overall cost for states,” Saldaña said.

The state’s non-partisan Legislative Analyst’s Office has estimated that the cost to California will be as high as $918 million over the next four years.