March 17, 1999
Web posted at: 6:57 p.m. EST (2357 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, March 17) -- President Bill Clinton and key congressmen said they will continue to work for a Medicare overhaul this year, even as they surveyed the wreckage left by an advisory commission that was unable to agree on a plan to save the program.

Clinton called Medicare "too important to let partisan progress stand in the way of vital progress," and said he would draft his own rescue plan in hopes of getting an agreement with Congress.

The National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare, created by Congress in 1997 to figure out how to put the program on firm financial footing, closed its doors Tuesday without reaching enough of a consensus to issue recommendations. The 17-member panel split largely along party lines in voting 10-7 to approve a plan that would aim to reduce Medicare's costs by making it more like private health benefits. Eleven votes were needed.

The president applauded the work of the commission, but said that projected inflation rates and rising health care costs would bankrupt the system under the plan put forth by the commission's co-chairmen, Sen. John Breaux (D-Lousiana) and Rep. Bill Thomas (R-California).

"It fails to make a solid commitment of 15 percent of the surplus to the Medicare trust fund. That is the biggest problem ... devoting 15 percent of the surplus to Medicare would stabilize the program and improve our ability to modernize and improve its services, and to make those hard choices," said Clinton.

Clinton has made his promise to commit 15 percent of budget surpluses over the next 15 years to Medicare the centerpiece of this efforts to reform the program.

Although the commission cannot submit a formal report, Breaux said he plans to introduce the overhaul plan it developed in the Senate anyway.

"It's only the beginning of a very important dialogue this Congress and this nation needs to have on the issue of Medicare," he said.

Aside from Breaux himself, the only other Democrat on the panel to support his plan was Sen. Bob Kerrey (D-Nebraska). The other eight supporting it were Republicans.

Breaux said he was having his plan drafted into formal legislative language, and hoped to introduce it within weeks. He said Finance Committee Chairman William Roth, a Delaware Republican, had promised the committee would take it up.

"I'm optimistic," said Breaux, adding that he thought he could improve the plan through the legislative process and gain Democratic support.

The commission's plan would inject competition into Medicare by letting senior citizens choose from among private and government-run insurance options. The government would subsidize their premiums.

That would begin to shift Medicare away from paying people's individual medical bills, making the program more like the health benefits that many companies offer to workers.

Republicans and Democrats alike see Medicare overhaul as a potent political issue in the 2000 election.

Without changes, Medicare, which provides health insurance for 39 million elderly and disabled Americans, is expected to run short of cash in about a decade -- just before the first of the Baby Boomer generation retires and becomes eligible for benefits.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Wednesday, March 17, 1999

• Reno backs scrapping 'structurally flawed' counsel law
• The flavor of Medicare
• Senate backs missile defense system
• Grand juror testifies Starr's prosecutors were not out to get the Clintons
• Clinton, Congress vow to push ahead on Medicare
• Controversial Starr assistant to leave OIC
• More nuclear security tesitmony due today
• Paula Jones: She and husband living apart but claims marriage not in jeopardy
• Forbes learns lesson about Web
• GOP swats away Democratic amendments, moves toward budget approval
• Clinton plans news conference Friday
• Clinton finds meaning in old Drifters tune
• First lady chats about pets' book, better literacy for children
• The down-home and high-tech adornments of Gore's upbringing

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