Frist promises Monday Medicare vote
From Ted Barrett
CNN Washington Bureau
Monday, November 24, 2003 Posted: 11:07 AM EST (1607 GMT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A bill, which for the first time offers prescription drug coverage to retirees, is expected to be up for a vote Monday in the Senate.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican, has accused Democrats of playing partisan politics that will keep vital Medicare benefits from the nation's seniors.
Frist, who called a rare Sunday session on the issue, promised a vote Monday.
"When you look at what's in this bill ... it's going to be hard for them to filibuster," Frist, a physician, said on CNN's "Late Edition." "I don't see how any of them can go home and say, 'We're not going to give you benefits we promised five or six years ago.' "
Senators spent Sunday debating the sweeping Medicare bill.
The $400 billion Republican-promoted bill's full drug benefit would go into effect in 2006, when it would be available for a monthly premium of $35. Within about six months of passage, according to the White House, seniors would be eligible for a drug-discount card offering up to 25 percent off the retail price of prescriptions.
The bill also contains a provision that would allow private plans to compete with conventional Medicare.
Republican Sen. Jim Bunning of Kentucky called the bill "a compromise," saying "It's time to act, and it's time to act now."
Competition, compromise
Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts threatened to lead a filibuster to stop its passage. He predicted that opening Medicare to competition would not help the intended beneficiaries.
"The reason we have the program is because private companies failed our seniors," Kennedy said. "It took effectively five years to pass that program. And now, after a two-day debate, we want to risk that program?"
The issue, though largely along party lines, resulted in strange allies.
Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California said she favored the bill.
"I intend to support this bill, not because it's perfect, but because I believe it will bring needed help to my state," she said.
Republican Sen. Don Nickles of Oklahoma expressed concern about the ultimate cost of the drug benefit and joined a number of liberal Democrats and a handful of other conservative Republicans in opposing it.
"This program may not be affordable or sustainable," he said. "... I think we're building as though we have a solid foundation, and we do not."
Sunday debate
Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, a Democratic presidential candidate who joined with Kennedy in threatening to filibuster, called the bill "a hoax and a clear giveaway to the drug industry" because it contains no provision to use the buying power of Medicare to force drug companies to lower their prices.
Two other senators campaigning for the Democratic nomination -- Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and John Edwards of North Carolina -- said they would join the filibuster.
Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, appearing Sunday with Kennedy on ABC's "This Week," said he, too, would join the filibuster because he wants "to make it better."
McCain said the new program would fail and "add another $8 trillion in unfunded mandates that we're laying on our kids."
With that in mind -- added to the country's overall budget deficit -- the Arizonan questioned "what's ever happened to my party's fiscal discipline?
All-night House session
The bill passed the House 220-215 as dawn was breaking Saturday morning, following an all-night session during which Republicans delayed the vote nearly three hours while they and President Bush lobbied members to change their no votes.
Congressional officials said it was the longest roll-call vote on record.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican, responded to critics who said the prescription plan would still see seniors paying as much as 70 percent out of pocket by saying, "It's optional. You don't have to take it."
Asked specifically whether the bill would guarantee lower costs for seniors a decade from now, Hastert refused to commit.
"I'm guaranteeing that this is a chance to change health care, to give people more options, to be able to give them a choice," he said.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/...are/index.html
From Ted Barrett
CNN Washington Bureau
Monday, November 24, 2003 Posted: 11:07 AM EST (1607 GMT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A bill, which for the first time offers prescription drug coverage to retirees, is expected to be up for a vote Monday in the Senate.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican, has accused Democrats of playing partisan politics that will keep vital Medicare benefits from the nation's seniors.
Frist, who called a rare Sunday session on the issue, promised a vote Monday.
"When you look at what's in this bill ... it's going to be hard for them to filibuster," Frist, a physician, said on CNN's "Late Edition." "I don't see how any of them can go home and say, 'We're not going to give you benefits we promised five or six years ago.' "
Senators spent Sunday debating the sweeping Medicare bill.
The $400 billion Republican-promoted bill's full drug benefit would go into effect in 2006, when it would be available for a monthly premium of $35. Within about six months of passage, according to the White House, seniors would be eligible for a drug-discount card offering up to 25 percent off the retail price of prescriptions.
The bill also contains a provision that would allow private plans to compete with conventional Medicare.
Republican Sen. Jim Bunning of Kentucky called the bill "a compromise," saying "It's time to act, and it's time to act now."
Competition, compromise
Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts threatened to lead a filibuster to stop its passage. He predicted that opening Medicare to competition would not help the intended beneficiaries.
"The reason we have the program is because private companies failed our seniors," Kennedy said. "It took effectively five years to pass that program. And now, after a two-day debate, we want to risk that program?"
The issue, though largely along party lines, resulted in strange allies.
Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California said she favored the bill.
"I intend to support this bill, not because it's perfect, but because I believe it will bring needed help to my state," she said.
Republican Sen. Don Nickles of Oklahoma expressed concern about the ultimate cost of the drug benefit and joined a number of liberal Democrats and a handful of other conservative Republicans in opposing it.
"This program may not be affordable or sustainable," he said. "... I think we're building as though we have a solid foundation, and we do not."
Sunday debate
Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, a Democratic presidential candidate who joined with Kennedy in threatening to filibuster, called the bill "a hoax and a clear giveaway to the drug industry" because it contains no provision to use the buying power of Medicare to force drug companies to lower their prices.
Two other senators campaigning for the Democratic nomination -- Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and John Edwards of North Carolina -- said they would join the filibuster.
Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, appearing Sunday with Kennedy on ABC's "This Week," said he, too, would join the filibuster because he wants "to make it better."
McCain said the new program would fail and "add another $8 trillion in unfunded mandates that we're laying on our kids."
With that in mind -- added to the country's overall budget deficit -- the Arizonan questioned "what's ever happened to my party's fiscal discipline?
All-night House session
The bill passed the House 220-215 as dawn was breaking Saturday morning, following an all-night session during which Republicans delayed the vote nearly three hours while they and President Bush lobbied members to change their no votes.
Congressional officials said it was the longest roll-call vote on record.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican, responded to critics who said the prescription plan would still see seniors paying as much as 70 percent out of pocket by saying, "It's optional. You don't have to take it."
Asked specifically whether the bill would guarantee lower costs for seniors a decade from now, Hastert refused to commit.
"I'm guaranteeing that this is a chance to change health care, to give people more options, to be able to give them a choice," he said.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/...are/index.html
Comment