Posted on 02/06/2004 11:26:17 AM PST by RJCogburn
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Friday he opposes changes to the new Medicare law this year, despite a raft of proposals, higher cost estimates from the Bush administration and steady criticism from Democrats.
Frist, a surgeon, also said he does not expect major health care legislation to pass Congress this year, although he said he plans to focus on limiting awards in medical malpractice cases, a hot-button election-year topic.
The Tennessee Republican said the sweeping changes to Medicare, including a new prescription drug benefit for seniors, should be given a chance to work before changes are considered. He said he was not troubled by the administration's estimate that the law would cost $534 billion over 10 years, a third more than projected by congressional budget analysts.
"I have not seen a proposed change that I am supportive of yet," Frist said at a breakfast with reporters who write about health care.
He said Democrats are fearful that Republicans will receive credit for passing a law that improves health care for seniors. "Democrats are out right now banging this thing, using partisan criticism to tear it down," Frist said.
Several senators who voted for the bill last year, however, have said they want to change it.
Two of those, Sens. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., have proposed giving the government the ability to negotiate Medicare drug prices with pharmaceutical companies and removing barriers to importing prescription drugs from Canada.
Snowe said the administration's estimate "is all the more reason to have this legislation."
Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., who voted for the Medicare bill, said legislation is needed to enforce the $400 billion cap on the law that the administration set last year.
"I know I would not have voted for a $534 billion bill, and I know other senators wouldn't have voted (for) that big a bill," Sessions told Joshua Bolten, Bush's top budget official, at a hearing on Thursday.
Frist, however, noted that the Congressional Budget Office (news - web sites) is standing by its $395 billion estimate — the official number for Congress.
As for Snowe's and Wyden's bill, he said recent government studies have reinforced concerns about the safety of allowing drugs from Canada.
The provision that bars the government from negotiating Medicare drug prices originated in Democratic-backed legislation, he said. "It is the right language," Frist said.
Democrats have said their legislation dating back to 2000 included the prohibition because they assumed Republicans would block a bill without it.
Why the heck not?
which does not make this monstrosity one bit better....nor answer the question if in being so far off the mark on the cost whether the administration lied or was incompetent.
"The Senate's majority leader, Republican Bill Frist of Tennessee, is another of the millionaires. A heart surgeon, Frist's family founded the Healthcare Company, a large hospital chain. His net worth is estimated at between $15.1 million and $42.3 million. "
That may be why he isn't overly concerned.
Geez you sound like Howard Dean. Can't you simply accept that this was an honest mistake? This isn't the Clinton administration you know.
Yes, I can....that is a good example of incompetence.
Wow, i never have met someone before who has never made a mistake. My hat is off to you.
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