Copyright 2002 Times Publishing Company St.
Petersburg Times
May 10, 2002 Friday 0 South Pinellas
Edition
SECTION: NATIONAL; Pg. 7A
LENGTH: 546 words
HEADLINE:
House GOP promotes seniors' drug plan - but lacks one
BYLINE: SARA FRITZ
DATELINE:
WASHINGTON
BODY: House Republicans
called a news conference Thursday to tout their plan for a prescription drug
benefit for seniors. But they hit a snag when they were asked, "What is your
plan?"
As it turns out, the Republicans, who had been
promising to bring a Medicare prescription drug bill to the House floor before
Memorial Day, have yet to agree on one. Rep. Bill Tauzin, R-La., said the GOP
leadership now hopes to write a bill by early June.
The delay is one more indication that Congress is not likely to agree
on a prescription drug benefit until 2003, at the earliest. That is bad news for
House and Senate members facing re-election in November. Members of both
parties, including President Bush, have been promising to make a Medicare
prescription drug benefit a top priority this year.
Flora "Grandma" Green, a Republican Medicare recipient who was invited
to speak at the news conference, said she hoped the years of waiting for a
prescription drug benefit for seniors would soon be over.
"We can't wait forever," she said. "It's coming; it's a new day. It's
right around the corner."
It was the second GOP news
event in two weeks designed to demonstrate Republican support for seniors who
cannot afford their medicine because Medicare does not cover drug
expenditures.
Without a bill, however, the event only
served to dramatize how hard it has been for the GOP to write a bill that
provides adequate benefits for seniors without exceeding the $350-billion,
10-year spending limit set by their party.
In the
Senate, where Democrats are in the majority, the leadership also has been slow
to develop a prescription drug plan. Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., has a proposal
valued at about $500-billion. But Senate Democratic leaders have indicated they
will wait to see the House-passed measure before they commit themselves to
anything.
In general, House Republicans have been
promising to come up with a measure with monthly premiums under $40 that would
pay for a portion of every senior's drug bill up to $2,000, and then pay 100
percent of the costs after their prescription expenditures exceed $5,000.
Tauzin said he hopes the GOP plan also will pay 100
percent of the drug cost for poor seniors whose annual income is 150 percent of
the official poverty level.
The biggest problems the
House Republicans have in devising a plan is that three committees have
jurisdiction over portions of the Medicare legislation. In Congress, it is often
harder to get agreement between committees controlled by one party than it is to
find a compromise between Republicans and Democrats.
As
a result, the Republican leadership is likely to bring its Medicare bill to the
House floor without any committee deliberations. This is what happened in the
last Congress, when the House passed a measure and the Senate, then controlled
by Republicans, failed to act.
Rep. Nancy Johnson,
R-Conn., noted that Medicare beneficiaries would already be getting benefits if
the Senate had acted then. "We must act this year," she said.
A physician, Rep. Ernie Fletcher, R-Ky., expressed confidence that the
GOP plan would be "a reasonable plan, a doable plan."
But when a reporter pressed for details, Fletcher got angry. "Are you a
Democrat or something?" he asked.
