Bush: Medicare Drug Plan Daunting, but ‘Good Deal’

By David Jackson

WASHINGTON — President Bush acknowledged Tuesday that signing up for the government’s new prescription-drug benefits can be a “daunting task,” but he said help is available for a plan that will save seniors money.

The new law offers an array of options, Bush said, and potential recipients who are wary can look to Medicare officials, family members, community centers and the AARP for help and advice.

“People will be able to match a program to their specific needs,” he said during a visit to a retirement center outside Washington. He called the new program “a good deal for our seniors.”

Enrollment began Nov. 15, and benefits begin Jan. 1. Congress created the program in 2003 to cut prescription-drug costs for seniors, but critics say the program is too complex, too costly and a potential liability for Republican congressional candidates.

“Americans deserve a prescription-drug plan that gives them more than a headache,” said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. Kennedy said one constituent told him she called Medicare three times with questions about enrollment, and received three different answers.

Some Democrats are trying to make the plan an issue in the 2006 congressional elections. In Connecticut, for example, state Sen. Christopher Murphy is challenging Rep. Nancy Johnson, saying the drug program is “of, by and for the insurers and drug companies” instead of seniors, while Johnson has labeled it a “wonderful benefit.” Democrats also have raised the issue in House races in Florida, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

The administration says 500,000 people have signed up. With 42 million in Medicare, the goal is to get 28 million to 30 million beneficiaries involved with the new drug benefit. Republicans have campaigned on the prescription-drug plan in the past, and a party spokesman said they expect to do so again next year once recipients start receiving benefits. “The bottom line is that it’s saving seniors money,” said Carl Forti, communications director for the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Some conservative Republicans, however, have called for scaling back the program because of the expense. Arizona’s Rep. Jeff Flake said in an e-mailed statement that voter disgust with “runaway spending” could turn the drug entitlement into a “political albatross” for Republicans.

When Congress approved the Medicare overhaul in 2003, the cost was estimated at $395 billion over 10 years. The Bush administration later acknowledged that its chief Medicare actuary had projected the cost at $534 billion, but his estimate had been squelched. Most recently, the administration projected a 10-year cost of $720 billion.

The president said the program benefits seniors by providing “a variety of options from which to match their needs to that which is available.”

White House press secretary Scott McClellan said the government is trying to help senior citizens make “an informed decision.”

“What they’re going to realize is better benefits and significant savings,” he said.

Contributing: Richard Wolf

(c) Copyright 2005 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.