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Democrats
Criticize New Medicare Measure By
Emily Gersema, the
Rep. John Tanner, D-Tenn., designated to deliver the party's weekly
radio address, said the GOP-led measure "would do little to address
the cost of drugs." The $395 billion bill pushed by President Bush and GOP leaders in
Congress includes a new prescription drug benefit for 40 million older and
disabled Americans. The Senate passed it on a 55-44 vote on Tuesday, just days after the
House, in its longest roll call in history, narrowly approved it 220 to
215 after a three-hour roll call. Such votes usually take 15 minutes. Democrats remain concerned about several provisions and Tanner listed
several criticisms. For one, he said, the bill "fails to deliver a
meaningful guaranteed drug benefit in Medicare and starts toward
privatizing the program." Also, "for the first time, it calls for capping the cost of
Medicare, even as it offers huge new subsidies for HMOs," he said. The legislation would require older Americans with annual incomes
exceeding $80,000 to pay higher premiums under Medicare Part B, which
covers services outside the hospital. Also, it would establish new
tax-preferred health accounts, open to individuals with high-deductible
insurance policies. Tanner said the Medicare bill prohibits the government from using the
purchasing power of 40 million Medicare beneficiaries to negotiate lower
prices. "Many of us continue to believe the best way to guarantee
affordable prescription drug coverage for all Medicare beneficiaries is
make the coverage part of Medicare, like doctor visits and hospital
services," he said. Democrats already have introduced legislation to repeal several of the
bill's most controversial provisions and to allow importation of
lower-priced prescription drugs from Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging |
