Senate Democrats yesterday introduced a bill to strengthen the Medicare Part D drug program - by sewing up the $3,600 coverage gap, allowing the federal government to negotiate prices with drug makers and streamlining its administration. 

The Medicare-Guaranteed Prescription Drug Act, written by U.S. Sens. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., and Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., is the Democratic alternative to the GOP-written Medicare Part D that went into effect on Jan. 1. 

Its launch was riddled with problems the Bush White House and state governments have struggled to correct, with many Medicare beneficiaries being forced to pay the full cost of their prescriptions or hefty copayments because of misunderstandings between pharmacies and insurance companies. 

Gov. W. Mitt Romney issued an emergency order, which expires March 8, providing a safety net for Medicare beneficiaries having difficulty getting prescriptions filled by making the state the payer of last resort. 

Gary Karr, a spokesman for the Center of Medicare and Medicaid Services, yesterday defended the new drug benefit, saying that with such a dramatic change to the 40-year-old Medicare program, "there are going to be bumps." 

Kennedy called Medicare D a disaster. 

"The bill that passed was a nightmare of complexity and confusion," he said. "Seniors across the country were denied the drugs they need or were forced to pay exorbitant fees to fill their prescriptions." 

The Kennedy-Stabenow bill, endorsed by U.S. Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., allows Medicare beneficiaries to remain within traditional Medicare to obtain drug coverage and not be forced to buy insurance from private companies. 

"No longer will they have to rely on a bewildering array of private plans to meet their need for drugs," Kennedy said. "In large cities and small rural areas, from Maine to California, to Alaska and Hawaii, Medicare will be there for every senior who wants it." 

Robert Hayes, who heads the Medicare Rights Center in New York, said his endorsement of the bill hinges on one element. 

"You could add 500 amendments correcting the Medicare bill," Hayes said. "The single solution is a drug benefit within Medicare. People will flock to that, and with good reason." 

Hayes said the best plan for Medicare beneficiaries is to run the prescription drug program within Medicare in the same way as hospitalization and physician visits. 

William Craven, who lives in Springfield and assists Medicare beneficiaries at the Ludlow Senior Center with their drug benefit options, agreed the benefit needs a national standard for out-of-pocket expenses, premiums and copayments. 

"Standardization of the plan would be most beneficial in eliminating confusion in the minds of the elderly," Craven said. 

"It sounds like this would be consumer-friendly, which is what most of the seniors are asking for," he said. "They don't want 48 options." 

On the House side, U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, which has oversight of Medicare, said he supports "Senator Kennedy's efforts to simplify the Medicare prescription drug benefit and make it more accessible."