By Maria Hickey, KWMU
St. Louis, MO. – Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt was in St. Louis Friday to talk about a new Medicare benefit.
Beginning in January anyone eligible for Medicare will be able to get prescription drug coverage as well.
Leavitt is touring the country alerting senior citizens about the plan.
"I have met many seniors over the course of the last months, many of them who pay $200, $500, $1,000, $2,000, some of them $3,000 a month for prescription drugs," Leavitt said. "For a person with a limited income that is a catastrophe, but beginning in January we will no longer have to worry about that."
Enrollment for the new program begins in November.
Leavitt met with St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay and several social service and health providers this morning.