09:38 AM CDT on Monday, June 19, 2006

Associated Press

WASHINGTON - 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.