Gore Blasts Drug Firms

Al Gore blamed pharmaceutical companies Wednesday for profits that are "way out of line" and plugged his own drug-payment plan at a Connecticut drugstore.

The vice president and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, put Republican rival George W. Bush and the drug companies at the center of his argument for expanding Medicare coverage to include prescription drugs.

Profits are good for encouraging investors, Gore said, but drug companies are "going far beyond that."

"They're going to the point that the margins are way out of line with what most other industries and most other lines of business believe is normal and adequate. They're using the market power to dictate prices that are way above what competition would set them at."

Gore and Shirley Kindle, 65, of Ansonia, spoke to a small assembly in the bingo room of South End Senior Center.

Kindle, who had already bought her April supply of medications, accompanied Gore earlier for a photo-op at Pelton's family drugstore, where pharmacist Hal Schoen lined up Kindle's 12 different prescriptions and rang up the total of $506.34.

"Which is more than I get from Social Security," Kindle said.

The woman, who said later she never shops at the photogenic Pelton's, told Gore her husband makes a little too much money for her to qualify for a state prescription-drug program.

"She was advised if they got divorced she'd be eligible for some low-income assistance, but she said after 35 years she's really not ready to give him up," Gore chimed in.

Campaign spokesman Chris Lehane said later the Kindles' monthly income of $1,800 also would make them ineligible for aid under a House Republican plan.

Gore has proposed adding a Medicare prescription drug benefit and letting uninsured Americans 55 to 65 buy into Medicare coverage. His drug plan would offer free coverage for low-income recipients, catastrophic coverage for all and an optional cost-sharing benefit for others with premiums of $44 a month when phased in.

By design, Gore's appearances Wednesday coincided with the release of an advocacy group's findings that prices for drugs most commonly used by senior citizens jumped higher than the rate of inflation last year, with some doubling in price.

At the White House, President Clinton and congressional Democrats cited the Families USA study as proof that people need help.

"Seniors living on fixed incomes simply can't cope with these kinds of price increases forever," Mr. Clinton said. "That's why we should take action to help them, and do it now."

Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert said Mr. Clinton's comments indicated "he is clearly misinformed about our fair and responsible plan that both strengthens Medicare and provides prescription drug coverage."

The administration and GOP leaders in the House are locked in a dispute over the size and scpe of the action Congress should take.

At the senior center, Gore warned anew against Bush's tax-cut and spending proposals.

"He calls it compassionate conservatism, but it's really casino economics. He wants us to roll the dice on an unaffordable tax scheme that gives the most to those who need it the least," Gore said.

Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer countered that Bush would dedicate nearly half of his five-year budget to "strengthen and save Social Security and Medicare, provide a prescription drug benefit and work in a bipartisan manner to enact much-needed reforms."

Added Fleischer, "If Al Gore is wondering why he has a problem with credibility, his partisan response to Medicare reform provides yet another reason why."

Bush recommends keeping Medicare as a federal commitment but says there should be more choice and more private alternatives for the elderly. He supports an unspecified drug benefit and subsidies to help the poorest of the elderly afford supplementary or alternative coverage.

Before returning to Washington, Gore took questions from reporters, including the customary question about whether some local Democrat this time Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman might be considered as his running mate.

"Even if it were at a stage where I could, if I wanted to, give you the names on a long list, I wouldn't do it because I don't think it's fair to people who would end up on that list," Gore said, adding praise for Lieberman and fellow Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd as "outstanding individuals."

Gore also was asked whether, given Bush's repeated criticism that he will say anything to get elected, he worries he might have a "credibility problem."

"I think he has a repetition problem," Gore said.