Democratic senators lay out Medicare drug demands
In letter to Bush, they outline conditions for support
By Sean Loughlin and Steven Turnham
CNN Washington Bureau
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The House and Senate must work out differences between their Medicare legislation before sending a bill to the White House.
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- In a sign of tough work ahead, a group of Democratic senators released a letter to President Bush on Tuesday outlining demands for a prescription drug benefit as part of Medicare.
The list of conditions was presented as negotiators try to iron out differences between House and Senate bills.
The roughly two dozen Democrats who signed the letter said they would not support any Medicare legislation that did not meet their conditions. Among them: assurances that the final legislation would prohibit employer plans from dropping coverage for retirees; extra help for low-income seniors; and a guarantee that Medicare will be available for seniors in rural areas where a private option is not available.
Last month, the House and Senate passed bills that would set up a prescription drug benefit as part of Medicare, the government health insurance system for the elderly and disabled. The bills would also offer seniors a choice of plans, including a private option. They differ in the scope of coverage and in what role the private sector would play.
The Democratic senators warned against any moves that would "coerce" seniors into leaving Medicare for private plans. The White House and many Republicans support putting incentives in the bill -- such as more generous benefits -- for those seniors who opt to join private plans.
"It is wrong to provide greater resources to enrich private plans while starving Medicare in the bargain," they wrote. The senators also called for "strong provisions" that would ensure the availability of generic prescription drugs.
"We recognize the difficulty of the task that faces the Medicare conferees, and we understand that hard choices and compromises will be necessary," they wrote. However, they vowed to "oppose any conference report that fails to address" their concerns.
The letter places the Senate Democrats on a collision course with House Republicans, who passed legislation that included incentives for seniors to join private plans and would introduce means testing, under which wealthier seniors would be charged more for coverage.
Many conservatives are leery of setting up a costly new government entitlement program -- especially if there aren't provisions that would encourage more private competition in the health care system. The cost of adding the prescription drug benefit to Medicare is estimated at $400 billion over 10 years.
The House plan also leaves out a Senate provision that would allow seniors to get the new drug benefit through traditional Medicare if no private plans are willing to offer it.
Even before the release of the letter, top Democratic and Republican aides were predicting long and hard negotiations over the Medicare bills.
The letter was initiated by Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota and Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts.
