WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court refused Monday to block part of the six-month-old Medicare prescription drug program, a defeat for states that claim they may get stuck with the bill.
Justices declined without comment to temporarily stop part of the law that added a prescription drug benefit to Medicare, the federal health insurance program for the elderly and disabled.
States were contesting a requirement that they pay the federal government for the drug expenses.
The court also said that the fight belonged in a lower court, not the Supreme Court.
The 2003 law went into effect Jan. 1. About 43 million people are eligible for the benefit, although some missed a May deadline to sign up and may face a penalty.
Texas, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri and New Jersey called on justices to step in, while the court decides whether to hear their challenge to a funding part of the law.
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