Posted on 06/25/2003 11:12:53 AM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
Bush Pushes Medicare Bill as House GOP Tries to Hold Coalition
Wednesday, June 25, 2003
WASHINGTON — President Bush engaged in high-level lobbying Wednesday on behalf of a Medicare prescription drug benefit bill as House GOP leaders made final decisions on what to include in their version of the bill.
"We are making great progress on this issue," Bush told a bipartisan group of House members who are key players on the legislation. He also was to meet later with a group of undecided House conservatives.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert said Wednesday the House bill would include a measure aimed at speeding generic drugs to market, but a handful of other items remained unresolved. House leaders spent the day laying out to their colleagues what would be the biggest Medicare expansion in the program's 38-year history.
Still, there was little question that the bill would pass by week's end in both the House and the Senate — as Bush has asked.
The Senate bill, particularly, appeared to be sailing toward passage. Senators were finalizing a deal that used a bit of extra money to satisfy both Republicans and Democrats and their competing visions for the future of Medicare.
The AARP, a powerful lobby group for older Americans, sent a letter to senators expressing concern about details of the bill but pleasure with the overall progress under way.
In the House, negotiations were more intense as leaders tried to satisfy conservatives who want to inject free market competition into Medicare, believing private insurance companies can deliver care better than the government can. But a bill that tilts too far in that direction would lose support of moderates, so GOP leaders were walking a careful line.
"When our margin is so slim, we need to be very particular in how we tailor our final, last-minute changes," said Rep. Deborah Pryce, R-Ohio.
Democrats contend that moving to the market-driven system envisioned by the House bill would inflate premiums for those seniors left in traditional Medicare — an earlier, similar proposal was estimated to drive premiums up 47 percent.
Hoping to boost their case, Democrats requested a similar analysis of the House bill from the Bush administration's chief Medicare actuary, but the chief of the Medicare program would not let the actuary, Rick Foster, release it to Capitol Hill.
"They don't have the right on the Hill to call up my actuary and demand things," said Tom Scully, chief of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (search). "These people work for the executive branch, period."
Scully said he would release the analysis soon "if I feel like it."
House Democrats said Scully is obligated to release the information and must be withholding it because it undermines the Republican case for private plans.
Bush, trying to build on what he called "good momentum," told the group of House members invited to the Cabinet Room, "We have a historic opportunity to seize the moment and get a good bill done."
"Whatever amount of energy and effort is required from the White House, we will provide it, to get a bill done this summer ... and say we have accomplished a major objective," the president said.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer, meanwhile, told reporters that the meeting with the first group of House members was both a thank-you and a nudge. The second meeting, with 12-15 undecided conservative members, was to include "a little cajoling, urging," he said.
One conservative, Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., who was attending the afternoon session with Bush, said Wednesday he has informed GOP leaders that he cannot support the Medicare bill, saying he'd prefer a narrow benefit targeting the poor. "Let's focus resources at the point of the need," he said.
Another conservative, Rep. John Shadegg, R-Ariz., also delivered notice that he will vote no.
Both the House and Senate bills would create a new prescription drug benefit under Medicare, to be offered by private insurance companies and subsidized by the government.
In addition, they would create a new managed care option for older people, who could choose to receive their government-paid health care from preferred provider organizations — similar to coverage that millions of workers now have — or from traditional, government-run Medicare.
Outstanding issues included the question of how much power free-market forces should have in Medicare. Most contentious was a provision that eventually would force the traditional Medicare program to compete with private plans. Many believe this will never pass the Senate, where Democrats wield more power, but it's crucial to retaining support of House conservatives.
Also unresolved in House negotiations were three issues narrower in scope but important to many members of Congress: whether to require seniors to pay a portion of their home health costs, how much to pay oncologists who administer cancer drugs in their office and whether to cut certain hospital payments.
House leaders hoped for a vote by the full House as early as Thursday.
In the Senate, key senators and the Bush administration worked toward agreement on a compromise plan divvying up $12 billion unclaimed in the $400 billion, 10-year plan.
Under a tentative compromise, Republicans would get $6 billion to increase payments to managed care plans, hoping to attract
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Blowing up.
Blowing up.
Entitlements growing like a friggin' cancer. You kill a tumor by cutting off its blood supply, not by giving it even more.
But he doesn't know how to cut the size of government when businesses are cutting back. What good are the tax cuts when they're going to be eaten up by SS & Medicare anyway?
Expect conservatives to stay home or vote Libertarian or Constitution party in 2004. I for one will not support any Pubbies who voted to expand Medicare.
Where is the outrage? Conservatives mobilized when Hillarycare almost became a reality. Where are all those fiscally responsible, limited-government Republicans at?
Really Todd, I guess you are longing for the good ole days of the Clinton administration.
Here's what the Bushbots will say about Bushcare:
Bushbot #1: "This is all part of Dubya's 'strategery.' to silence the liberal media and elect more Republicans."
Bushbot #2: "Looks like the DUmmies have come out to play, they just keep underestimating Bush."
Bushbot #3: "Bush isn't expanding Medicare, he's CUTTING it! Don't you see people? All the old people will overdose on meds and there'll be no more old people left. Then he'll cut it."
Such is a typical reflexive Bushbot reply.
At least have the integrity to say something like...'this is a really bad idea that increases the size and scope and cost of government, and is in no way conservative. But I understand Bush has to be limp wristed in this for political purposes and the greater things he'll accomplish.'
Try.
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