Medicare
Drug Benefit delay or repeal goal
of Representatives, Senators
A growing number of
Representatives and Congressmen are calling for a delay or repeal of
the new Medicare Part D prescription drug card plan.
The
Cato Institute held a
briefing
on Friday, October 7th at the Rayburn House Office Building on the
potential to delay the implementation of the new Medicare
prescription drug benefit. The event featured Senator John McCain
(R-AZ), Reps. Jim Cooper (D-TN) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ), and
Michael
Cannon, Cato's director of health policy studies.
President Bush and congressional leaders have promised billions of
dollars for the reconstruction after Hurricane Katrina. But without
a plan to pay for it, the new spending will blow a hole in the
federal budget and soak future generations. The devastation wrought
by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita demands leadership and a
re-evaluation of spending priorities, first and foremost the costly
and unwise Medicare prescription drug benefit set to take effect in
January. At the briefing, McCain, Flake, and Cooper all argued that
Congress should at least delay implementation of the Medicare drug
benefit to pay for hurricane relief, with Flake and Cooper
suggesting the potential for an outright repeal. A two-year delay
that retains "transitional" assistance for low-income seniors would
save $84 billion.
On
the idea of delaying the benefit, John McCain - quoted in
Congressional Quarterly's
coverage of the event - had this to say: "Couldn't we at
least delay it? Couldn't we say to low-income, here's a piece of
paper, go and get your prescription. And the rest of you, we're not
going to go through this cockamamie process."
The Medicare drug
law, which passed the House by 220-215 only after hours of
arm-twisting by Republican leaders, was intended to be a hallmark of
the Bush administration’s social policy platform.
But rising cost estimates and confusion among seniors about
the benefit created a backlash among conservatives, who called for a
repeal shortly after passage.