AARP members said relief from the high cost of prescriptions was a top priority last session.

Again this year, AARP members ranked cost of drugs as a top priority for this session.

In the meantime, the cost of drugs has risen three times the rate of inflation in the last year, with some drug costs rising 16 percent (estrogen replacements).

AARP and the Alliance for a Healthy Montana are supporting a strong package of prescription drug programs to help our neediest Montanans, and all Montanans who take medications -- SB 324 The Affordable Rx Act sponsored by Senator Jon Tester, D-Big Sandy, and Rep. Dr. Don Roberts, R-Billings. The bill has passed the Senate but is running into trouble in the House due to some legislators' desire to delay funding the bill for two years.

The Affordable Rx Act includes several education and outreach programs for prescribing professionals and consumers to identify effective but less costly alternatives to their current medicines. It includes a program to put local pharmacists directly in touch with consumers for consultations on how they can save money right now. And the centerpiece of the bill is a program that will use I-149 Tobacco Tax revenue to pay for the premiums of Medicare's prescription drug benefit (Part D) for Montana beneficiaries with incomes up to $19,000 a year.

The people of Montana overwhelmingly passed I-149 that called for using tobacco tax revenue to fund prescription drug programs for our neediest citizens. Clearly those living on less than $20,000 are really feeling the chokehold right now of high energy bills (estimated 33 percent of low income budgets), high health care costs (another 33 percent of low income budgets), and gasoline prices skyrocketing out of sight. There is little left for food, property taxes, home care, home and car insurance, and so on.

Delay in getting needy Montanans enrolled in the new federal drug program could be more costly than some legislators realize. The new federal regulations implementing Medicare Part D call for a "penalty of 1 percent per month" for late enrollees. SB324 could assist 20,000 elderly and persons with disabilities across the state by helping pay for the premium costs of Medicare Part D. If we delay SB324 by even 14 to 18 months, as some legislators are proposing, Montana will have to pay an additional $1 million to $1.5 million in late enrollment penalties.

In addition, Montanans will lose an estimated $600 to $1,000 per year in benefits from Part D, according to estimates by the Social Security Administration.

Many Montanans are already cutting dosages, delaying or declining to fill prescriptions. We are forcing people to make choices between filling the gas tank, paying utility bills, or getting groceries.

There is one more thing we must do, however. Let your legislators know while they are home for the spring break that you want them to pass and fund the Montana Rx programs now, not in two years. There is funding and the people voted that the funding should give us prescription drug relief this session, not some time in the future.

Some of our neighbors' health may actually depend on it. Contact your legislators at home this weekend, or leave a message at 406-444-4800. Ask them to please, "Vote for and fully fund Senate Bill 324 now!"

PAT CALLBECK HARPER is associate director of AARP of Montana.