|
|
|
|
||
|
||
|
|
||
| SEARCH | SUBSCRIBE | ||
|
 |
Democrats
Reject GOP Medicare Drug Plan "I believe it will not pass the United States Senate in its
current form," Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., said Sunday,
signaling a politically charged struggle when the GOP tries to push
legislation to passage beginning this week. It is a battle Bush appears eager to join, after leaving subordinates
to work with lawmakers across months of wrangling on the details. "I know I will be actively pushing the bill, because it conforms
to the principles I laid out of prescription drugs for our seniors: choice
for seniors, accountability for the Medicare plan," the president
told reporters at the White House. The legislation would create a prescription drug benefit for 40 million
elderly and disabled Medicare beneficiaries beginning in 2006.
Participants would be offered a chance to purchase coverage at a monthly
premium of $35, with a $275 deductible, a gap in coverage and protection
against extremely high annual expenses. At the same time, the bill would establish a new role for private
health plans in Medicare, encouraging them to offer seniors the choice of
receiving coverage under managed care plans such as preferred provider
organizations. That system encourages use of certain doctors but allows
patients to go elsewhere if they pay extra. Republican congressional leaders sealed a tentative agreement Saturday
with two Democrats, Sens. John Breaux of After that, the leaders can see whether the political and policy
calculations they made hold up. In five months of bargaining, the GOP leaders struggled to write a bill
that could appeal to enough conservatives to clear the House, while
gaining enough support from moderate Democratic senators to avoid a
filibuster. At the same time, they avidly courted the support of the AARP, with 35
million members age 50 and over, and already have picked up support from
the American Medical Association and American Hospital Association. The White House continued its push on Monday to get the measure passed. "There are leaders who are working in a bipartisan way to improve
health care for our seniors, and then there are those who are standing in
the way of progress for partisan political purposes," White House
press secretary Scott McClellan said. Other than Breaux and Baucus, no congressional Democrat voiced support
for the legislation over the weekend, although others are expected.
"Many will reach the decision that this is better to pass than not to
pass," Baucus predicted. Neither Kennedy nor Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle has yet
threatened a filibuster - a tactic that requires bill supporters to gain
60 votes to prevail. But neither found much to like in the proposed
legislation, to judge by their rhetoric. "It keeps drug prices high, causes two to three million retirees
to lose drug coverage and coerces seniors into HMOs," Daschle, D-S.D.,
said in a statement. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of The legislation creates a $12 billion fund to help managed-care plans
take hold among the Medicare population. In addition, it leaves in effect
the current ban on importation of lower-cost prescription drugs from Among Republicans, GOP leaders hope that some provisions in the bill
will attract conservative support - the very elements that Kennedy and
other critics oppose most strongly. The measure includes a new health-related tax break for individuals who
purchase health insurance with a high deductible. It also requires the president to propose legislation in the future if
Medicare spending exceeds a fixed percentage of government revenues.
Congress would have to consider the proposal but not be required to vote
on it. Additionally, the bill provides for a temporary program of
competition to pit traditional Medicare against the new private plans in a
handful of metropolitan areas beginning in 2008. Conservatives say that
will help hold down the growth in the program's cost. But critics argue that will wind up leaving sicker and older
beneficiaries in traditional Medicare and facing higher premiums. Apart from Democrats, Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine said she is "deeply concerned" about the impact of direct competition on seniors. Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging |
