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Bush urges Congress to send him 'good Medicare bill'Fund-raising events bring in $3 million
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Visiting a politically pivotal state, President Bush on Monday urged the House and Senate to quickly resolve their differences on bills overhauling Medicare, so he could sign a measure into law giving seniors a new prescription drug benefit. "We just gotta get the job done now," Bush said. "We gotta make sure that the bills are reconciled and get 'em to my desk. And I look forward to signing a good Medicare bill." The president spoke to an audience of senior citizens in the Little Havana neighborhood of Miami -- a break from a day devoted to fund-raising in Florida. His trip Monday marked the 15th visit the president has paid to the Sunshine State, home to many senior citizens -- a powerful voting bloc --and many Hispanics, a growing political constituency. Following his speech, Bush attended a $2,000-a-plate fund-raising luncheon in Miami for his re-election effort. He attended another fund-raising event Monday evening in Tampa. By day's end, the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign had brought in $3 million, capping off a recent fund-raising blitz that raised about $30 million for the quarter. The president did not say which version of the Medicare bill he preferred, but he pressed lawmakers to resolve their differences. The House and Senate bills differ in several respects, including the scope of coverage, whether means testing for wealthy seniors should be included and whether there should be incentives to encourage seniors to join private plans. Both bills would add a prescription drug benefit under Medicare -- the government health insurance program for the elderly and disabled -- at a cost of about $400 billion over the next decade. That benefit would not take effect, however, until 2006. House and Senate negotiators are expected to work on the bills for at least a month, congressional aides say. Bush stressed his belief that the changes should incorporate choice for seniors, whether it's sticking with Medicare or joining a private plan. "Your choice to make," Bush said. "That ought to be available, part of the program." Either way, he said, a prescription drug benefit would apply. He did, however, suggest that options other than Medicare could offer seniors "enhanced benefits," a likely sticking point in negotiations as Democrats say they don't want to do anything that undermines the government program. Bush also repeated his call for caps on malpractice lawsuits, saying "frivolous" lawsuits were driving up the costs of medical care. "In order to make sure health care is vibrant and viable, we need medical liability reform all across America and we need a federal medical liability reform," Bush said. Bush's fund-raising efforts in Florida mark the end of ambitious push to build what campaign aides say could be $175 million war chest for the primary season -- even though there is no GOP opponent in sight. The nearly $30 million expected to be brought in by the campaign this quarter includes events with the president, vice president, and first lady, along with direct mail and Internet donations, according to a campaign official. The president is not taking federal matching funds for the primary season and therefore is not limited in what he can raise. Before Monday, Bush had headlined five events in two weeks, raising $3.5 million in Washington, D.C.; $4 million New York City; $2.2 million at a plantation near Greensboro, Georgia; and $5 million in San Francisco and Los Angeles, California. --CNN White House Correspondent Dana Bash contributed to this report.
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