NEWS> Medicare May Disappear Behind the Bushes
- From: Gleason Sackmann <gleason@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: NetHappenings <nethappenings@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 26 Feb 2003 09:06:36 -0600
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Net Happenings - From Educational CyberPlayGround
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From: "David P. Dillard" <jwne@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tue, 25 Feb 2003 13:21:41 -0500 (EST)
The Bush proposals to change Medicare and Medicaid as a precursor to the
creation of a prescription plan have lead to a great deal of discussion
and controversy.
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Bush Proposes Major Changes in Medicare and Medicaid
By ROBIN TONER and ROBERT PEAR
New York Times
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/24/politics/24AGEN.html>
WASHINGTON, Feb. 23 President Bush has begun one of the most ambitious
efforts to reinvent Medicare and Medicaid since the programs were created
38 years ago. Combined with his earlier plan for Social Security, the
proposals offer a fundamentally different vision of social welfare policy,
many experts say.
Mr. Bush's proposals for Medicare and Medicaid, taking shape in recent
weeks, would transform these pillars of the Great Society and their
guarantee of health benefits to the elderly, disabled and poor.
States would have far more power to determine who receives what benefits
in the Medicaid program, which covers 45 million low-income Americans. The
elderly would rely more on private health plans, and less on the
government, for their health benefits under Medicare, which covers 40
million elderly and disabled people.
The administration's vision for Medicare and Social Security moves away
from the notion that everyone should be in the same government-managed
system with the same benefits. It promises individuals more choices,
including the option of picking a private health plan or investing some of
their Social Security taxes in the stock market.
But critics say these proposals would also mean less security, fewer
guaranteed benefits and more financial risk for beneficiaries.
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Kennedy rips Bush on Medicare, drugs
Jim Baron February 21, 2003
PawtucketTimes.com
<http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=
7129985&BRD=1713&PAG=461&dept_id=24491&rfi=6>
PROVIDENCE -- If you are a traditional Medicare patient, you can stay in
the hospital longer than a patient on a managed Medicare program, says
Gary Gaube.
<snip>
Gaube was at the offices of the AARP on Wednesday, adding such anecdotes
to Rep. Patrick Kennedy's "Deja Voodoo" tour, during which he has gone up
and down the state taking swipes at various aspects of President George W.
Bush's proposed 2004 budget.
It was the first President George Bush, the current president's father,
who coined the term "voodoo economics" to describe the budget proposals of
his opponent in the 1980 Republican presidential primary, Ronald Reagan.
"What we're facing here with any question about prescription drug coverage
is a question of human dignity," Kennedy said during what was billed as a
Town Meeting on Medicare and prescription drugs.
"Are we going to be able to provide our seniors with the opportunity to
live their lives to the fullest and not have to worry incessantly about
whether they are going to be able to gain access to ... health care?"
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Bush Seeks Medicare, Malpractice Reforms
Bush Calls for $400 Billion for Medicare Drug Benefits, Reforms in
Malpractice Awards
The Associated Press
<http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20030129_1078.html>
"Leaders of both political parties have talked for years about
strengthening Medicare," Bush said Tuesday in his State of the Union
message. "I urge the members of this new Congress to act this year."
The details were to come later sometime "early this year," Fleischer said
after negotiations with key lawmakers.
But one key Senate Republican quickly challenged Bush's efforts to
condition a prescription drug benefit on Medicare recipients switching to
subsidized private insurance plans.
"I am concerned ... that the president's focus on ways to reform Medicare
could hamper our efforts to pass comprehensive prescription coverage,"
said Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine.
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Bush Seeks Medicare Reform, Frist Vows Swift Action
Wed January 29, 2003 12:10 AM ET
By Joanne Kenen
<http://asia.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?
type=scienceNews&storyID=2128792>
Bush said he would not force seniors out of the current Medicare plan, but
said he wanted to offer new alternatives to the government-run program
that covers all Americans from age 65 and several million disabled people.
He also repeated his call for Congress to limit malpractice lawsuit
damages, saying "excessive litigation" pushes up health care costs. "No
one has ever been healed by a frivolous lawsuit," he said. The House of
Representatives has backed similar legislation in the past but it faces
more opposition in the Senate.
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Daschle, Nelson Call For Prescription Drug Benefit For Seniors
Senators Oppose Bush Plan
Associated Press
POSTED: 7:06 p.m. EST February 24, 2003
<http://www.nbc6.net/politics/2001345/detail.html>
DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. -- About 20 seniors meeting here with Senate
Democratic Leader Tom Daschle about prescription drugs shared tales of
buying cheaper drugs from Canada, splitting pills in half to save money
and paying their grocery bills instead of filling their prescriptions.
"We have too many people here that either eat or buy drugs. America is
actually suffering," lamented 86-year-old Lenny Mitchenkoff.
Daschle, a South Dakota Democrat, along with Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida,
told the seniors they are calling on President Bush and Republican
lawmakers to provide a prescription drug benefit for seniors, instead of a
costly tax cut benefiting the wealthy.
The senators told the group at the Century Village East retirement
community Monday that Bush's proposal would force seniors into unreliable
HMOs and could leave some paying thousands of dollars for their
prescriptions.
Daschle said Bush's tax cut on dividends would cost $700 billion.
-------------------------
Full Stories May be Read at the URLs Above.
David Dillard Research Librarian
david@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
ECP RingLeader
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/ringleaders/davidd.html
Temple University
(215) 204 - 4584
jwne@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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