At the state Capitol in Boston, seniors' rights activists enter the office of Senate President Therese Murray to press for more funding for elder home care, in order to eliminate the waiting list. Photo by Bill Greene/Boston Globe/Landov

Julie Pettit needs 13 medications to control a range of serious medical conditions, so she was shocked in January when her copayment on one prescription soared to $122.

Like thousands of other low- and moderate-income people in Massachusetts, Pettit depended on the state Prescription Advantage program to help pay her Medicare Part D drug copayments. But after a sudden drop in state tax revenues, Gov. Deval Patrick, D, cut the program by $11 million, effective Jan. 1. That eliminated the copayment assistance for nearly 45,000 people.

Pettit, 75, of Falmouth, felt the impact when she went to pick up her first refills of the year.

“Oh my God, I was so mad!” she fumed. “Everybody better do something and wake up to what people are going through. They should be really fighting.”

She’s not alone in her anger. AARP Massachusetts has received hundreds of complaints about the higher copays. The cutbacks will continue into next year if the legislature approves the budget proposed by Patrick.

Patrick’s Prescription Advantage cuts do not apply to people with the lowest incomes, but they affect individuals with incomes between $15,601 and $31,200, or $21,001 and $42,000 for married couples. “I’ve cut down on heat,” Pettit said. “I don’t buy meat, I mainly eat egg salad and tuna fish.”

Older people have lost help in another area. Last fall Patrick cut nearly $7 million from the state’s Elder Home Care program that helps people live independently in their homes as long as possible. Since January, the nonprofit agencies that administer the program were forced to put people on waiting lists for services provided by home care workers.

John Raczkowski, 85, of Whitman, is on a list. “A nursing home and me, we don’t mesh,” he said. “I’m too young for that.” Raczkowski’s vision is impaired, and he had to give up his driver’s license five years ago, but he can still move around his house. A home care aide would do the shopping and cooking that relatives occasionally do now.

“Right now the cuts are causing a lot of pain in the pocketbook,” said Deborah Banda, director of AARP Massachusetts, referring to the prescription and home care programs. “They’re very shortsighted. These people could end up needing more expensive care.”

The Patrick administration promises it will eliminate the waiting lists in a few months. Elder Home Care advocates, including AARP, held a rally in February to prod the legislature into guaranteeing that it is funded adequately. Nine legislators spoke at the rally, but legislative leaders are waiting until updated revenue figures are available later this spring before making any commitments.

“The House will prepare a budget aimed at addressing a historic $3.5 billion deficit,” said Seth Gitell, spokesman for House Speaker Robert DeLeo, D-Winthrop. “The goal is preserving existing programs and services.”

AARP Massachusetts has set up a hotline [see story on left] for people to call their lawmakers and urge them to restore the programs.

Meanwhile, Julie Pettit is still angry.

“Sometimes when I’m at the drug counter, I see a friend getting her medication and she asks for the bill, and when she hears the high copay, well, she looks like a deer in the headlights,” Pettit said. “And then she has to put the medicine back on the counter and walk away because she doesn’t have the money.

“We seniors better do something,” Pettit concluded. “We’ve got to call, send letters. People think, ‘Those seniors will not fight, won’t complain.’ Let them see us in action.”

Thomas Gagen has written about health care issues in Massachusetts for 15 years.