Free Republic

<p>WASHINGTON (CNN) -- In a dramatic vote that took almost three hours to complete, the House narrowly passed a Medicare and prescription drug bill and sent it to the Senate for final consideration.</p> <p>Democrats held a slight lead in the vote count for most of the session. But the Republicans, who control the chamber, refused to close the vote. That allowed GOP leaders and President Bush -- who made several middle-of-the-night phone calls to wavering members -- to scrounge up more votes.</p>

Seeking to discredit the AARP's endorsement of the Medicare bill now before Congress, opponents of the bill are pointing to what they say are the group's financial stakes in the legislation. John Rector, a senior vice president of the National Community Pharmacists Association, a trade group for independent drugstores, said yesterday that AARP, the biggest advocacy group for the elderly, had "a well-documented, inherent conflict of interest based on income from health insurance products sold to AARP members." AARP said its commercial interests were likely to be damaged, not helped, by the passage of the legislation, which would add a...

<p>Over the weekend, congressional negotiators completed workonthe Medicare reform/prescription drug bill. This legislation represents not only a new chapter in American health care but also a historic opportunity to put a conservative imprint on a major entitlement program in need of reform. As one of the negotiators — and as a conservative — I strongly support this legislation and believe it should become law.</p>

<p>Every conservative member of Congress should vote for this Medicare bill. It is the most important reorganization of our nation's health-care system since the original Medicare Bill of 1965 and the largest and most positive change in direction for the health system in 60 years for people over 65.</p>

BEDFORD — Five would-be Presidential nominees, including Howard Dean, opened an AARP pre-primary event at the Wayfarer Inn yesterday by chastising the 35 million-member (210,000 in New Hampshire) group’s leadership for backing a GOP Medicare prescription drug bill. Many in the crowd of nearly 1,000 didn’t like it, either. They booed when the moderator announced the AARP, a national advocacy group for people 50 and older, will spend $7 million to support the bill, including a television ad that calls the plan imperfect but “a good first step.” “This is a bad bill. It’s a Republican bill. Therefore, it’s a...

Senate Democrats wrestled yesterday with whether to try to kill the Medicare reform bill, critics led by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy released a study saying it would harm thousands of seniors. Tens of thousands of Bay State seniors would lose their retirement health benefits and others would have to pay more for coverage under a Medicare proposal that promotes private health insurance, according to the study. But the Democrats are faced with a choice of being labeled obstructionist if they kill the bill, or handing President Bush a victory a year before the election if they vote for it, lawmakers...

News Advisory: Hundreds of senior activists will descend on Capitol Hill Wednesday, November 19, to express their outrage and opposition to the proposed Medicare prescription drug bill announced by conferees. "We vehemently disagree with those who say any bill is better than nothing," said George J. Kourpias, president of the Alliance for Retired Americans. "We believe no bill is better than a bad bill. Seniors will not be fooled by what amounts to nothing more than a payout to special interests. Our members have long fought for a meaningful prescription drug benefit under Medicare, and what the conferees have offered...

By MARK SHERMAN Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - Republicans consulted the politically potent AARP at key moments in negotiations over a Medicare prescription drug bill - and the group responded Monday with the endorsement the GOP and President Bush wanted to counter Democratic critics. There are 35 million reasons why the AARP is a player in the maneuvering - the number of its members age 50 and above. AARP chief executive William Novelli told The Associated Press in an interview that his organization would ``pull out all the stops'' to get the bill passed, including a three-day television campaign...

Alerts Topics Municipal Bonds Muni news Insurance Medicines Enter E-Mail Address: FAQ | Privacy Policy Mortgage Services from Homebound Mortgage Apply For A Mortgage By Joanne Kenen WASHINGTON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - The largest organization representing older Americans on Monday endorsed the Medicare reform bill heading toward votes in the House and Senate this week amid questions about how much support it will garner from key conservative lawmakers. As expected, the 35 million member AARP formally endorsed the $400 billion 10-year bill to revamp Medicare and add a prescription drug benefit. The group's executive director, Bill Novelli, has pledged a...

<p>Two Republican senators are seeking to shelter their states from part of an emerging Medicare bill, fearing their constituents could face higher premiums because of competition between traditional coverage and new private health plans for seniors, officials said Friday.</p> <p>While conservatives in the House push for as much competition as possible, GOP Sens. Gordon Smith of Oregon and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania have lobbied Republican leaders about the impact back home. Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona has expressed similar concerns, according to several officials.</p>

With Medicare reform marooned on the rocks, Republican lawmakers are crafting a legislative and public relations strategy to fend off Democratic attacks. The game plan reflects their realization that chances of a Medicare breakthrough are all but exhausted this year. Aides say a possible GOP approach will be to move a partisan Medicare conference report through the House and Senate. Under that scheme, the House would pass the bill mostly along party lines. Republicans would then try to ram it though the Senate. If a bipartisan deal is not reached soon, Democratic and GOP aides are predicting the Medicare debate...

The Wrong Prescription for Medicare by Robert Moffit and Derek Hunter The cost of Congress’ Medicare drug proposals is rising -- and so is public frustration. A little history: In June, both houses passed slightly different Medicare reform bills. Each would create a massive Medicare drug entitlement, instead of targeting help to poor seniors who need it. Anybody turning age 65 -- including a retiring Bill Gates or Donald Trump -- would be handed a taxpayer-financed drug benefit. President Bush wants lawmakers to settle their numerous differences quickly and send him a Medicare bill. But we’re still figuring out the...

<p>When we arrive willy-nilly on the plains of fiscal Armageddon, let no politician say bad intelligence put us there. Republican and Democrat, congressman and president, all have been forewarned.</p> <p>On July 25, 2001, David Walker testified in the House Budget Committee. As comptroller general of the United States, Mr. Walker is the budgetary equivalent of the director of Central Intelligence, and he presented the budgetary corollary of satellite surveillance photos.</p>

Conservative House Republicans, a bloc crucial to passage of any Medicare drug legislation, issued a manifesto today insisting on some mechanism to control the cost of new drug benefits for the elderly. The conservatives also threatened to vote against the legislation unless it required the traditional Medicare program to compete directly with private health plans in 2010. "Taxpayer costs will be driven down through the forces of competition," the conservatives said in a letter to Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, Republican of Illinois. Such competition is anathema to many Democrats. Representative Pete Stark of California, the senior Democrat on the Ways...

Capitol Hill (CNSNews.com) - Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's eyes sparkled Monday as he stood in the U.S. Capitol holding the three books that contain the 2,054 pages of nationwide rules and regulations for Medicare in one hand and the 64-page pamphlet that encompasses all of the rules for the Federal Employee Health Benefit (FEHB) plan in the other. "This is the FEHB plan, which gives you, I think, 85 choices around the country. This is Medicare," Gingrich said, comparing the two. "You don't have to be an Ayn Rand libertarian to say, almost automatically, this [FEHB] is smart, this...

12:36 PM ET BEGIN TRANSCRIPT:Now back to Medicare and the rising cost, the tax increases, substantial, long-term tax increases the Heritage Foundation says will be necessary to support this boondoggle, and boondoggle it is. Here's the bottom line. There is no amount of facts and analysis, no amount of logic that will deter the liberals on this, because, ladies and gentlemen, it is not about, this whole Medicare, prescription drug entitlement, is not about prescription drugs for "our seniors." Oh, they say it is, and they make a great case out of caring and they try to make everybody think...

(CNSNews.com) - An elderly political activist who was repeatedly portrayed by CBS News as a typical victim of the high cost of prescription drugs, now admits the network "probably" should have disclosed her lobbying interests during her numerous on-air appearances. Viola Quirion, who favors the Medicare reforms that would provide elderly Americans like herself with a federally subsidized prescription drug plan, might not be considered a typical senior citizen to many people - given her extensive political lobbying background, which includes advocating on behalf of the Alliance for Retired Persons. But that's the way she was portrayed by CBS...

<p>WASHINGTON — Forty-four House Republicans have threatened to torpedo President Bush's coveted Medicare prescription drug plan (search) if it does not include free-market reforms.</p> <p>They say the drug benefits will cost too much and drive Medicare ever closer to insolvency. The Congressional Budget Office (search) has estimated the bill will cost $400 billion over 10 years.</p>

DESPERATE to control the congressional embrace of prescription drug subsidies, the House Republican bill would apply means testing to catastrophic illnesses. That laudable effort, however, carries an unexpected consequence. The health insurance industry would have access to the income data of every senior citizen in America. So much for supposed congressional concern about privacy. Ironically, this massive intrusion into secrets of older citizens results from Rep. Bill Thomas’s attempt to prevent ideological disaster for the Republican Party flowing from its perceived political triumph of getting rid of the issue. The innovative Ways and Means Committee chairman’s proposal for means testing...

Bush Nudges Conservatives to Support Medicare Bill By David Espo The Associated Press Published: Jun 25, 2003 WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush cajoled conservatives to support a Medicare prescription drug and modernization bill on Wednesday, urging them to overcome their opposition to creation of a costly, new government benefit program. Bush pledged all the "effort and energy" needed to prevail as House GOP leaders made last-minute changes in an effort to round up enough votes for the $400 billion measure, which would combine drug coverage with a dose of free-market competition in the government health care program for seniors. But...