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Bush steers around furor over drug plan

The president is notably absent from the White House Conference on Aging, which was abuzz with criticism.

By STEPHEN NOHLGREN
Published December 14, 2005

WASHINGTON - While President Bush was in Virginia touting his new Medicare drug plan Tuesday, delegates to the fifth White House Conference on Aging demanded it be overhauled.

Their paths never crossed.

Unlike his three predecessors, including his father, Bush will not attend the four-day conference. The administration is well represented there, a White House spokeswoman said.

"The purpose of the conference was to develop recommendations for research and action in the field of aging and present a report with their findings to the president," said spokeswoman Jeanie Mamo. "The president participated at an event in Springfield, Va., to educate seniors on Medicare prescription drugs and encourage them to sign up with the program."

But seniors at the once-a-decade White House conference were in no mood to be sold on the plan.

The Part D drug benefit, which takes effect Jan. 1, is administered by a raft of private insurance companies. Some drugs are covered; others aren't. Premiums and copayments vary widely, and Medicare, by law, cannot negotiate price reductions from the pharmaceutical industry.

Picking the right coverage from the myriad options "is a daunting task," Bush acknowledged to residents of the Greenspring Village Retirement Community in Springfield. Still, he said, the drug benefit "is a good deal."

But the drug plan has run into a buzz saw at the aging conference this week.

Red "Fix Medicare Rx" buttons sprouted on lapels and ties. Hundreds of delegates grumbled and booed Monday when Medicare administrator Mark McLellan suggested that seniors who call Medicare's information hot line get prompt service.

A session on improving Medicare could have ranged over a wide landscape. Medicare costs, for example, are rising so rapidly that Comptroller General David Walker called the program a "demographic tsunami."

But when about 100 conference delegates convened a Medicare improvement session, they latched onto the Part D drug plan and wouldn't let go.

"D is for disaster," yelled Wisconsin delegate Helen Dicks.

"We need one Part D plan - a Medicare Part D plan," chimed in Ohio's Belle Likover, echoing widespread sentiment that the government, not private insurance companies, should administer a drug benefit and negotiate directly with the drug industry for cheaper prices.

Other delegates called for allowing importation of foreign drugs, eliminating Part D's coverage gap commonly known as the "doughnut hole" and broadening subsidies for low-income people.

Conference recommendations, which will be narrowed down today, carry no force of law. But bipartisan ideas flowing from past conferences have prompted legislation involving Meals on Wheels, grandparents' rights, family care-giving and other issues.

Bush, Republican governors and Republican members of Congress appointed most of this year's 1,200 delegates, which makes the resistance to Part D particularly striking.

Bush's second-term attempt to divert some Social Security income into private investment accounts encountered similar opposition at a session on strengthening Social Security. About 100 delegates hashed out strategies, including raising the cap on taxable earnings, delaying benefits and requiring public employees to pay into the system.

But two-thirds of them voted against any use of private accounts.

Conference organizers from both political parties had expressed hope the privatization hot potato would not dominate the conference. With the first Baby Boomers turning 60 next month, social planners face challenges and opportunities in many arenas.

Judging by strong turnouts at other discussions, the organizers got their wish. About 90 delegates chose to discuss flex time, pension and tax reform and other issues related to older workers - a turnout almost as large the more vociferous crowd haggling over Social Security.

Several federal laws discourage companies from hiring and retaining older workers, said Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes, an expert observer from Boston College's Center on Aging and Work.

"There were a lot of employers in the room. Everybody said, "Let's just get moving on this,' " Pitt-Catsouphes said. "People are going to get caught, whether it's with income or health benefits, unless we change things."

Times staff writer Bill Adair contributed to this report, which used information from the Associated Press.

[Last modified December 14, 2005, 00:15:15]