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Promise to help seniors with drugs falls flat
© St. Petersburg Times WASHINGTON -- When George W. Bush ran for president, he mocked Democrats for failing to live up to their promise to create a prescription drug benefit for seniors under Medicare. "Eight years ago, they campaigned on prescription drugs for seniors," Bush said. "And four years ago, they campaigned on getting prescription drugs for seniors. And now they're campaigning on getting prescription drugs for seniors. It seems they can't get it done. "They may blame other folks, but it's time to get somebody in Washington who is going to work with both Republicans and Democrats to get some positive things done when it comes to our seniors. So what I've said is there's been some lost opportunities. They've had a chance. They've had a chance to form a consensus." After Bush arrived at the White House a year ago, however, he also squandered a chance to form a consensus on prescription drug coverage for seniors. There was a budget surplus, and members of both parties were saying that the time was ripe to act. But the president never seriously tried to negotiate the terms of a drug benefit with Democrats. Now, Bush is the one who deserves the blame for failing to keep his campaign pledge to seniors. Republicans worry that their failure to act on this issue in 2001 will hurt them in next year's congressional elections, and perhaps in the 2004 presidential contest as well. Experts say it is entirely likely that seniors still will be waiting for drug coverage when Bush faces the voters then. According to Henry Aaron, economics and health care guru at the Brookings Institution, hope for such a program evaporated when the budget surplus disappeared. Furthermore, he predicts that new budget projections to be released soon will "swing wildly toward the red, and even they will be unduly optimistic." "The era of budget surpluses is over," Aaron said. Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., a longtime advocate for prescription drug coverage under Medicare, concedes there is no money left to assist seniors with high-priced drugs. While the money was being spent on other things, Graham says, the costs of the program were also escalating as baby-boomers rapidly approach the age of retirement. During Bush's campaign, he promised that he would -- if elected -- quickly create a stop-gap program to provide immediate drug assistance for needy seniors. Once that program was in place, he said, he would work to enact a comprehensive plan covering all Medicare beneficiaries. But Bush abandoned his stop-gap drug proposal almost as soon as he took office. At the time, he portrayed his decision as a commitment to enact a full-fledged plan sooner than originally promised. To that end, the president's budget, which was approved by Congress, set aside more than $300-billion for a comprehensive Medicare drug program. But money was never spent for that purpose. In July, the president unveiled a substitute proposal. It was an ill-conceived plan to create a government-sponsored discount card that seniors could use to obtain their drugs at lower prices. The program, Bush promised, would provide Medicare beneficiaries with discounts of as much as 20 percent. But implementation of the discount drug card was halted in September by a federal judge, who suggested the administration lacked authority in law to create such a program. In addition, the judge indicated he does not believe Bush followed the necessary procedures for creating a new program. The discount card program fell victim to a lawsuit brought by two lobbying organizations representing drugstores, which claim the actual discount would be far less than the president promises. In addition, the drugstore owners contend the discount would come entirely from their profits -- not from the profits of drug manufacturers. At the same time, Congress made no other efforts to dampen the rising costs of prescription drugs. A House-passed bill to allow Americans to buy cheaper American-made drugs sold in foreign countries was never brought to the floor of the Senate. Another measure to increase the availability of generics was not taken up either. What happened to the money set aside last year for a prescription drug benefit? AARP lobbyist John Rother says that instead of providing a drug benefit for seniors, the president agreed to spend twice as much money -- $600-billion -- to abolish the estate tax for the wealthy. Yet even though the chances for a drug benefit appear bleak, Graham says he intends to hold Bush to his campaign promise. "I am going to take the president at his word that he recognizes the importance of a prescription drug benefit," Graham said. "I am not prepared to admit defeat for the next three years in an effort that President Bush committed himself to, along with members of Congress." -- Sara Fritz can be reached by e-mail at fritz@sptimes.com or by telephone at 202-463-0576.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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