Bush Summons Medicare Conferees

September 25, 2003
President Bush has invited all of the Medicare conference committee negotiators to the White House today. He's expected to urge them to set an Oct. 17 deadline for a final House-Senate compromise on the competing Medicare drug benefit bills passed by each chamber last June.

There are significant differences between the measures and progress on reaching a compromise has been slow. Among the concerns is how to ensure that private health plans (PPOs) will be integrated into Medicare and how rural residents are protected against being short-changed as private plans are given more leeway.

There is also broad disagreement over whether Medicaid beneficiaries should be included in a Medicare drug benefit. All 50 states and most consumer and senior organizations have urged that all Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries be included but the Bush Administration has let it be known that it favors leaving Medicaid at the state level.

As Republican leaders in both houses tried to bring warring sides together, Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) said his House Government Reform Subcommittee on Human Rights and Wellness would hold a hearing on his proposal to help poor people and those with drug expenses of more than $3,000 per year.

Burton says the House bill would undermine many retirees' existing health insurance and would cost far more than the official estimates of $400 billion.