Senate Democrats Release Letter to President Bush

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Senate Democrats Release Letter to President Bush

Office of Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, July 8, 2003

July 8, 2003

President George W. Bush

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Washington, DC 20501

Dear Mr. President:

As the Medicare bill moves forward, we wish to share with you our views on key issues before the conference. The Senate was able to pass the bill with bipartisan support, and we would urge that the conference proceed in that same bipartisan manner. We will strongly oppose a final bill that would do more harm than good to seniors, to beneficiaries with disabilities, and to Medicare itself. We owe it to America's senior citizens to produce a conference report that is based on what seniors want and need, and not the ideological bent of one political party or the other.

Our support for the conference report depends on the satisfactory resolution of the following key issues:

First, the bill cannot give seniors false choices that coerce them into leaving conventional Medicare to enroll in HMOs and private plans. It is wrong to provide greater resources to enrich private plans while starving Medicare in the bargain. It is wrong to legislate a vast social experiment that would raise premiums for Medicare and victimize the oldest and sickest senior citizens. We will oppose a conference report that forces seniors to choose between giving up their doctor or facing higher premiums to stay in the current Medicare program.

Second, the Senate bill permits a prescription drug benefit in conventional Medicare to be provided by private plans. However, there must be a back-up Medicare plan in areas of the country in which private risk-based prescription drug plans are unwilling or unable to provide the drug benefit. In addition, there must be protections against price gouging, risk selection, and other abuses. There must be a Medicare fallback provision in the conference report that provides no less protection than in the Senate-passed bill.

Third, we agree with recent statements by Republicans and Democrats that the final bill must prevent employer plans from dropping coverage for retirees. A bill that purports to help seniors must not result in the loss of good retiree health coverage for as many as four million senior citizens, as CBO estimated would happen under the House and Senate bills. We therefore will oppose the conference report unless it provides substantial relief from the penalty imposed under both bills on employers who currently provide retiree health coverage.

Fourth, the legislation should help all seniors, but must give particular priority to low-income Medicare recipients. The Medicare drug benefit must be available to all Medicare beneficiaries and must not exclude the poorest senior citizens. We also believe that one of the most attractive elements of the Senate-passed bill is that its drug benefit provides low premiums, low copays, and a relaxed assets test for about 40 percent of all Medicare recipients. The conference report must not subject low-income beneficiaries to high out-of-pocket costs, including costs during the coverage gap.

Fifth, the conference report must encourage innovative approaches to constraining Medicare prescription drug costs, to keep senior citizens' premiums and co-payments as affordable as possible, including strong provisions to assure the prompt availability of generic competitors to brand name drugs.

Finally, we will oppose any conference report that contains controversial provisions that have nothing to do with the goal of strengthening Medicare and providing a Medicare prescription drug benefit. In particular, we oppose as unwise policy the addition of health savings accounts to the bill. If $174 billion in additional resources are available, those funds should be used to close the gaps in the Medicare prescription drug benefit.

We recognize the difficulty of the task that faces the Medicare conferees, and we understand that hard choices and compromises will be necessary. We want you and the conferees to be aware, however, that we will oppose any conference report that fails to address the six fundamental issues set forth above. We know that there is still much work to be done as Congress works to produce a final Medicare bill for your signature. We look forward to working closely with you to achieve this result.

Sincerely,

Senators Kennedy, Daschle, Stabenow, Feingold, Dodd, Akaka, Kohl, Corzine, Murray, Bayh, Carper, Bingaman, Reid, Jeffords, Hollings, Johnson, Dayton, Wyden, Cantwell, Clinton, Boxer, Durbin, Mikulski, Inouye, Rockefeller, Dorgan, Schumer, Pryor, Lautenberg, Lincoln, Levin, Kerry, Leahy, Bill Nelson, Biden, Conrad, Lieberman