The White House Conference on Aging ended Wednesday with more than 1,200 delegates leaving Congress and the president a to-do list of 50 resolutions. 

Among the most popular measures was a rejection of one of President Bush's proudest accomplishments for seniors - adding prescription drug coverage to Medicare. 

The delegates want a single drug plan within Medicare and want the government to negotiate lower drug prices with the manufacturers. 

But the No. 1 priority for the delegates is reauthorizing the Older Americans Act - in six months. The act pays for a variety of important senior services, including meals, transportation for doctor's appointments and grocery shopping, caregiver support, and elder abuse prevention. 

Ohio receives $50 million a year from the act to help seniors live independently. 
"I was very happy to see the Older Americans Act at the top of the list, because that's where it belongs," said Merle Kearns, director of the Ohio Department of Aging. "I think a lot of people went home ready to call their congressman about the importance of reauthorizing it."
 
Kearns told the 42 Ohio delegates at a reception during the conference that several of the state's congressional members will play a key role in the fate of the legislation. 

Sen. Mike DeWine heads the committee that will write the bill. His spokesman, Jeff Sadowsky, could not promise Wednesday that it will be ready in six months. 

"He will be working on it in the course of the next year," Sadowsky said. 
Also at the top of the list is a resolution to improve the Medicare drug benefit by allowing the government to negotiate lower drug prices directly with drug companies, which is now prohibited by law. A single plan run by Medicare would replace the dozens created by private insurance companies. 

Belle Likover, a Shaker Heights delegate appointed by Gov. Bob Taft, contributed some of the wording of the resolution during the Medicare strategy session - "one prescription drug plan, a Medicare drug plan." 

At a news conference held at the Capitol, California Democrat Rep. Pete Stark said the delegates' Medicare resolution adds momentum to congressional efforts to improve the benefit. 

But he said it will take more public pressure to make the changes the delegates want from a Republican-controlled Congress. With about 80 percent of the delegates backing the proposal, Stark said even some Republicans are confused by the drug plans. 

But Judy Brachman, a Columbus delegate named by Sen. George Voinovich, dismissed the Medicare resolution as "sour grapes," saying the drug benefit will help many seniors. 

Although Ohio delegates like Helene Stone of Lorain were upset about restrictions forbidding changes in the resolutions or proposing new ones, by the end of the conference they were more optimistic. 

"In spite of the controls, when the delegates were asked to express themselves in the implementation strategy [sessions], their opinions and expertise came through," said Stone. "I'm impressed with the results." 

The resolutions will be compiled into a report for the president and Congress. 
And just to make sure none of them fall by the wayside, delegate Richard Browdie of the Benjamin Rose Institute proposed a resolution requiring public updates at least annually on how the various resolutions are implemented. 

"If people know that there is an obstacle to the progress of a good idea, they can act to remove that obstacle," he said. "But first they need to know what happened."