GOP Drumming Up Support for Medicare Reform
WASHINGTON — President Bush and Republican congressional leaders, shoring up support for a landmark $400-billion Medicare bill, scrambled Tuesday to placate GOP conservative critics who are threatening to vote against the measure.
Bush planned to meet as soon as today with restive House Republicans to build support for the measure that would provide a prescription drug benefit under Medicare. Many conservatives say the push for Medicare reform does not go far enough to curb costs in the financially troubled program and give the private sector a bigger role in delivering medical care to seniors.
The House and Senate seem on track to meet Bush's demand that they pass versions of the bill by week's end. But even with the House bill -- which would go further than the Senate measure in promoting private-sector involvement -- GOP leaders have had to mount a full-court press to win over many conservatives.
"I don't know if the bill is in jeopardy, but it would be wrong to assume it will pass easily or safely," said Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).
Prospects for approval brightened in the Senate as conservative Republicans neared agreement on a compromise that would provide $6 billion for a pilot project to expand private-sector competition to serve Medicare beneficiaries.
The compromise, being negotiated with Democrats who support the bill, also would provide $6 billion to expand benefits under the traditional government-administered Medicare plan.
If that tentative deal becomes final, it bodes well for the bill to pass the Senate with support from a bipartisan coalition.
The Senate continued work on the bill Tuesday, rejecting a series of Democratic amendments designed to expand coverage under the measure. Two of them -- defeated by votes of 52 to 43 and 55 to 41 -- were designed to give employers more incentive to continue providing drug coverage under retiree health plans.
Another, more modest effort to induce employers to keep their benefits may be approved later this week, said Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.).
Lawmakers of both parties fear that if the federal government were to offer a prescription drug benefit, private employers who now offer one to retirees would drop their plans. The Congressional Budget Office recently predicted that more than a third of the nation's retirees who currently have their drug costs covered by a former employer's health plan could lose those benefits if the Medicare reform legislation becomes law.
