Bush hails Medicare overhaul compromise
Says he'll push Congress to pass bill, but Democrats cast doubts
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President Bush is pushing Congress to pass a Medicare overhaul that would add prescription drug coverage. CNN's Jonathan Karl reports (November 17)
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush said Sunday he would be "actively pushing" Congress to pass a Medicare overhaul that would add prescription drug coverage.
But leading Democrats said the bill would undercut the 38-year-old program that provides health insurance for some 40 million people over age 65 and some younger Americans with disabilities.
Republican congressional leaders, joined by two Senate Democrats, announced Saturday they had reached an "agreement in principle" on a compromise Medicare reform and prescription drug bill that had stymied negotiators for months. (Details)
"It is a complex piece of legislation," Bush told reporters at the White House. "After all, we are changing a Medicare system that has been stuck in the past for a long period of time."
Bush campaigned for Medicare prescription drug benefits in his 2000 presidential bid.
Senate Republican Whip Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said the proposed overhaul would cost $400 billion over 10 years.
"It's a major investment -- the largest change in Medicare and the largest addition of benefits to Medicare since the program came in the '60s," McConnell said on CNN's "Late Edition."
Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle said few Democrats had seen the bill but that reports indicated it could result in as many as 3 million people losing their existing prescription drug benefits.
"We're not going to be rushed into making some decision without adequately studying the legislation and making some decision about whether it's worthy of our support," the South Dakota Democrat said.
Sen. Max Baucus of Montana, one of the two Democrats involved in the House-Senate conference committee negotiations, said the proposal was "a true definition of compromise -- a little give, a little take."
"I would never vote for a bill which I thought would undermine traditional Medicare, and this bill does not do that," Baucus said.
The proposal includes a pilot project to inject free market competition, known as premium support, into the program.
Under the project, the secretary of health and human services would choose six metropolitan areas where fee-for-service Medicare would compete with HMOs and preferred provider organizations, congressional aides said.
Other provisions include efforts to control the cost of Medicare and a "means test" that would force wealthy seniors to pay more for Medicare coverage.
The AARP -- which represents more than 35 million Americans age 50 and over -- said it would study the proposal before deciding whether to support it.
"We like what we are beginning to see in the bill, but we have not seen full details," said AARP spokeswoman Lisa Davis. "There needs to be a start. This establishes within Medicare a real benefit that could be meaningful."
Many Republicans have argued that the private sector will help control the costs of the program, which are expected to balloon as baby boomers age.
But Democrats argue the private plans would draw wealthy and healthy people away from conventional Medicare, causing premiums to soar for those who remain.
Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut said he suspects the measure is a "Trojan horse" that would lead to the privatization of Medicare and push as many as 10 million people from the system.
"Medicare has been one of the most successful, popular programs since its inception," Dodd said.
"And there's a danger in this bill that you're going to do great damage to a wonderful program."
Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts said he "absolutely" would oppose the proposal and predicted the bill would not pass the Senate.
"As a result of this proposal, you're going to find out that there are a number of seniors that have prescription drug [coverage] that are going to lose it," Kennedy said on CBS's "Face the Nation."
"You're going to find out that some of the poorest of the poor that are receiving prescription drugs under Medicaid are now going to have to pay more -- up to 6 million are going to have to pay more for it."
Congressional sources said lawmakers set aside at least $70 billion -- nearly one-fourth of the budgeted cost of the entire drug benefit -- to encourage corporate health plans not to dump their retirees once Medicare's prescription drug plan is in place.
Kennedy called that a "slush fund" for insurance companies.
"So this is right back where the Republicans are looking out after the insurance industry and the drug industry, and they are leaving the seniors behind," he said.
