Medicare could be election issue
Relatively few seniors take advantage of discount card
From Judy Woodruff
CNN
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- On Tuesday, President Bush announced the formation of an interim government in Iraq. The news took center stage in a volatile political climate with fears of terrorism looming large in the public consciousness.
With significantly less fanfare, Medicare's drug discount program, part of Bush's Medicare reform bill, also went into effect that day. Domestic issues appear to be taking a back seat to foreign policy this election season, but could cause political headaches in the months ahead.
When Bush signed the Medicare legislation last December in Constitution Hall, Republicans hailed the change as a political victory. Bush spoke of a "great achievement of a compassionate government."
Yet, just six months later, Medicare threatens to become a political liability for the Bush administration.
In December, a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll showed that 46 percent of those 65 and older said they supported the law and only 39 percent were opposed.
By late March, 48 percent said they opposed the changes to Medicare.
Many seniors are bewildered by the large number of plans from which to choose. A 59-year-old woman in Columbus, Georgia told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "I could not understand it. I got such a headache." She's not alone. And a 76-year-old woman the Los Angeles Times, "They tell you to go on the computer, but everybody doesn't have a computer."
When I recently interviewed Tommy Thompson, secretary of Health and Human Services yesterday, on CNN's Inside Politics, he defended the program.
"It's a good program. It's a very good law," he said. "And it's going to be very good for low-income seniors all across America ... Those individuals need to sign up."
Forty-one million senior citizens are eligible for Medicare, but the number of older Americans who have actually signed up for the discount cards -- 2.8 million -- is far fewer than expected.
And AARP, the powerful lobbying group for seniors which endorsed the drug discount program initially, now says the value of these discounts will be eroded if the price of prescription drugs continues to rise as rapidly as they are.
Thompson encouraged confused seniors to call 1-800-Medicare to speak to one of their 3,000 operators. But since this is the first major test of the new Medicare law, it is entirely possible that seniors will connect their experiences to Bush when they go to the voting booths in November.
Judy Woodruff is CNN's prime anchor and senior correspondent. She also anchors "Judy Woodruff's Inside Politics," weekdays at 3:30 pm ET.
