Drug coverage must be added to Medicare while the money's there, Clinton says

June 13, 2000
Web posted at: 1:21 PM EDT (1721 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Armed with a study showing many rural seniors aren't getting the medication they need, President Bill Clinton urged Congress on Tuesday to add prescription drug benefits for Medicare recipients while the country's finances are flush.

"This is amazing to me that we're even having this debate. We have a strong economy and a large projected surplus," Clinton said. "There is no excuse not to do this right, not to provide prescription drug coverage in Medicare."

The White House report, released Tuesday, said the rural elderly are less likely to have any prescription drug benefits, and they spend more of their money on prescription drugs than urban Medicare recipients. The White House event came as Republicans, over Democratic objections, try to move an alternate plan through Congress.

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Politics of health care

Rural Medicare patients are 60 percent less likely to obtain needed prescription drugs due to cost than urban patients. They also pay about 25 percent more for the medication they do get, the report concluded.

Prescription drug coverage was not included in Medicare when it was enacted in 1965. The matter has become a hot election-year topic, with the Democratic National Committee highlighting Vice President Al Gore's stance on the issue in television ads, and pharmaceutical companies warning against an increased government role in the drug market.

Clinton and congressional Democrats who joined him at Tuesday's event want to make the prescription drug benefit available to all of the nearly 40 million seniors in the Medicare program.

A rival GOP plan would encourage insurers to offer prescription drug coverage to seniors not eligible for a direct government benefit because of their income.

Rep. William Thomas

"It is a Medicare prescription drug program, a benefit and an entitlement inside Medicare. It will be voluntary, and it will be universal," said Rep. William Thomas (R-California). "That is, it is the government's responsibility to make sure that every senior in the United States gets the ability to avail themselves of this program, period."

Rep. Richard Burr (R-North Carolina) said the Republican plan would leave Medicare recipients with market choices.

"We believe that choice is an important ingredient to finding efficient and effective pricing," he said. "Without choice, clearly, we believe the market place doesn't work as well."

But Clinton criticized the Republicans' reliance on private insurers, saying the industry "has already failed rural America."

"There's no point in telling the American people we're doing something that turns out to be a fraud. And there's no point in pretending that only poor seniors need this help. That is not true," he said.

Sen. Max Baucus

Few health maintenance organizations work with Medicare in rural areas, and "The few that were there are pulling out," said Sen. Max Baucus (D-Montana), who commissioned the report that was released on Tuesday.

"Rural seniors are being denied access to life-saving treatment because of where they live," he added. "This report underscores the need for Congress to enact a Medicare prescription drug benefit as soon as possible."

Tuesday's events came as senators opened hearings on the cost of prescription drugs in the United States, as compared to other countries. Some members of Congress want to allow U.S. consumers to buy price-controlled drugs from pharmacies or wholesalers abroad.

But both the pharmaceutical industry and the Food and Drug administration object, citing safety concerns. And the industry says competing with other countries' price controls would reduce the amount of money they need to develop new drugs.

"There are real issues with regard to the trackability of a medicine," industry spokesman Alan Holmer said. "Can you tell if it has been stored appropriately? Has it spent too much time in the hot sun?"

But consumer advocates argue that drug companies spend more on marketing and administration than on research.

"If we moderate prices, it's not the research and development budgets that would be the first to go down. The profit margins, which are three to four times the profit margins of other Fortune 500 companies, they might go down somewhat -- not research and development," said Ron Pollack, executive director of the advocacy group Families USA.

Medical Correspondent Eileen O'Connor contributed to this report.

Tuesday, June 13, 2000

• Bitter races for Virginia House seats highlights day of elections
  
• Wednesday hearing to examine loss of nuclear secrets at Los Alamos lab
  
• Video: Political coverage, campaign ads form dynamic duo
  
• Stakes are high in California congressional race
  
• Video: The ups and downs of unscientific election forecasting
  
• Gore kicks off 'prosperity tour' in New York
  
• Capitol Hill debates DNA testing in capital crimes
  
• Clinton urges Congress to pass patients' bill of rights after Supreme Court ruling
  
• Circus elephants are main attraction at congressional inquiry
  
• Drug coverage must be added to Medicare while the money's there, Clinton says
  
• A sometime step in the VP dance: Saying 'no' before you're asked
  
• Ex-congressman sentenced to three months in halfway house for criminal contempt
  
• Mayor Giuliani still won't say how he will treat cancer
  
• Report: Danforth pulls name from list of potential Bush running mates
  
• Congressional seats draw heavy GOP competition in two states
  
• White House claims rural elderly will suffer under GOP drug plan
  
• Clinton and Dole attend fund-raiser for Sen. Dodd
  
• First lady, House whip share foster care award
  

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