RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- North Carolina will put more than $95 million from its share of a national tobacco settlement into a new program to help senior citizens pay for prescription drugs.

The plan, announced Thursday by Gov. Mike Easley and approved by a commission headed by Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, calls for spending $32 million a year over the next three years to help supplement drugs costs for people 65 years and older. Another $3 million in grants will go toward medication counseling and disease management programs. "I think it's so important, and speaks volumes about our state and our values and our priorities that we are going forward with this prescription drug program," Easley said. Perdue praised Easley and lawmakers for leaving the tobacco proceeds alone despite the pressures created by a budget shortfall and slowing tax collections. "It's a legacy for North Carolina. It's an historical opportunity for us," Perdue said. Even before he assumed office, Easley said he wanted some money from the multistate, multibillion tobacco settlement to go toward a prescription drug plan. In May, he told the Health and Wellness Trust Fund Commission that he wanted its members to help develop a plan by the end of the year. The commission is responsible for overseeing 25 percent of the state's proceeds from the tobacco settlement. The state's total share is expected to reach $4.6 billion over 25 years. The Health and Wellness Trust Fund now totals $88 million, although no more than half of the proceeds can be spent in any one year. The drug program will be targeted at people whose income is less than $17,180 a year but are not eligible for Medicaid, which already picks up drug costs for those below the federal poverty level. State officials estimate about 150,000 North Carolinians will be eligible, although they don't anticipate more than 100,000 will participate at any one time. Only drugs for heart disease, diabetes and pulmonary diseases such as emphysema will be covered. The program will pick up 60 percent of the cost, with the patient paying the remaining 40 percent. Benefits would be capped at $1,000. The commission envisions beginning the program July 1, but Easley administration officials say they hope to have it running much sooner. Perdue said she recognizes the plan isn't perfect, leaving out retirees under 65 and others who have conditions such as multiple sclerosis. Still, she said the program as designed is what the trust fund can afford. "I believe in my heart that we are really going to be significantly helping people meet these costs," Perdue said. But Adam Searing, project director of the nonprofit N.C. Health Access Coalition, said disabled people under 65 will continue to fall between the cracks. "That, in our opinion, is a real failing," Searing said. Robin Boettcher, a chapter president of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, pointed out that 186,000 North Carolinians on Medicare will remain without prescription drug benefits. Commission member Bob Parker, an administrator at Baptists Hospitals in Winston-Salem, worried about the lack of a firm funding source to continue the program after three years. "I know there is a lot of hope that there are areas and people who would like to fund it, but that's not a given," said Parker, the only commission member to vote against the proposal. Easley reiterated Thursday that he believed the federal government will eventually provide a seniors drug program, but that the state cannot afford to wait on Washington. The plan also includes a donated drug component in which pharmaceutical firms agree to provide free drugs for the poorest of those who are eligible. So far, six drug companies have agreed to participate. In addition, the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina will conduct a study of the program's effectiveness.

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