Politics

Bush Keeps Up Health Care Pitch

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

July 11, 2001 / 8:43 AM EDT / CBS

President Bush is hoping to keep the legislative focus on his ideas for health care with a speech Friday at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.

He's to renew his pitch for his version of a patients' rights bill and tout his plan for drug discount cards for Medicare beneficiaries.

On both issues, Senate Democrats have their own ideas. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle met with Mr. Bush late Thursday at the White House. He says he's pleased Bush is at least talking about those health issues, since it could lead to some legislative agreement.

But Daschle says Mr. Bush should sign the Senate version of the patients' rights bill. And the Democratic leader warns that Mr. Bush's discount-card program will just raise false hopes for seniors.

Comparing Medicare to a 1965 Mustang, Mr. Bush earlier in the week said the system was good at its beginning but must be modernized — and pitched the discount drug cards, reports CBS News Correspondent Mark Knoller.

"Medicare most pressing challenge is the lack of coverage for prescription drugs," the president said, surrounded by elderly Americans at a sunny Rose Garden ceremony.

Under Mr. Bush's Prescription Drug Discount Program, Medicare would endorse and promote several privately administered prescription drug discount cards, like those currently offered by pharmaceutical and other companies. The cards would be free or cost at most $25.

According to White House estimates, the card could save Medicare recipients 25 percent in typical medicine purchases, or as much as 50 percent for mail-order drugs. Mr. Bush said the cards would cost a dollar or two.

"It's simple and it's convenient," Mr. Bush said.

To educate seniors about their options in Medicare and the prescription card, Mr. Bush pledged a $35 million public-awareness campaign this fall.

What Is Medicare?

Medicare is a two-tiered insurance system catering mainly to people over 65. Some younger people with disabilities or kidney failure also qualify. The program, launched in 1965, now covers 39 million Americans.

Medicare coverage is divided into parts A and B.

Part A is automatic for most people, funded by payroll taxes. It covers hospital, hospice and some home health care.

Part B is voluntary, requires a premium starting at $50, and covers doctors' services and outpatient treatments deemed medically necessary.

The federal government is expected to spend 226 billion on the program in 2002.

Separate from Medicare, Medicaid is a joint state-federal program catering to the needy. Some people receive benefits under both programs.

Medicare HMO's typically provide some drug benefits to their members. But about one-third of Medicare beneficiaries do not have any insurance to cover prescription drugs outside hospitals.

Health and Human Services secretary Tommy Thompson said, "We'll be able to start the enrollment by October 1 already. Some of the companies have said privately they might be able to start offering the discounts as early as November."

The president's proposals come as major health care legislation simmers in Congress in the form of a patients' bill of rights, and the House of Representatives mulls ideas to cut the cost of prescription drugs.

The House Wednesday approved a proposal to allow consumers to buy drugs from abroad by mail order but rejected a broader plan to allow pharmacists and wholesalers to do the same — a victory for the White House and pharmaceutical companies.

The discount drug plan could help Mr. Bush regain some momentum on health care, lost after the Democrat-led Senate brushed aside a White House veto threat and approved a far-reaching patients' bill of rights that would give Americans sweeping new powers to sue — health maintenance organizations and insurers. The House is weighing a similar bill.

The White House will move forward with the plan, believing it does not require congressional approval and could be implemented by the Department of Health and Human Services within several months, according to the White House official.

All Medicare recipients would be eligible for the discount drug card plan, but not all popular medication would offered at big savings, reports CBS News Chief White House Correspondent John Roberts. For that reason, some critics say the plan offers a false promise.

"It gives seniors the sense that they're going to be able to go into the pharmacy of their choice and receive a substantial discount on the cost of their prescription medication, and that just isn't the case," said Craig Fuller of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores.

The plan falls short of the subsidized prescription drug benefit for all Medicare recipients favored by most Democrats, but the powerful American Association of Retired Citizens supports it.

"We think the discount card is a good step forward," said the AARP's Bill Novelli. "We need to finish the journey and we need a prescription drug benefit in Medicare."

Mr. Bush also proposed that seniors have more coverage options under Medicare and a stop-loss limit on how much the sickest patients must pay. He said his plan would also reduce the need for costly Medigap insurance.

Click here for a look at the Bus administration.

Mr. Bush said seniors should have the option of a subsidized prescription drug benefit as part of the benefit. Unlike most employer-sponsored health plans, Medicare does not pay for prescription drugs.

The president also asserted that:

Medicare should provide better coverage for preventive care and serious illnesses.
Today's beneficiaries and those approaching retirement should have the option of keeping the traditional plan without the changes under consideration.
Medicare should provide more health insurance options, like those available to federal employees.
The program's long-term financial security should be strengthened, as should its management.
Medicare's regulations and administrative procedures should be updated and streamlined, while fraud and abuse should be reduced.