Bush Threatens to Veto Changes in Medicare's Drug Benefit
By ROBERT PEAR
Published: February 11, 2005
WASHINGTON, Feb. 11 - President Bush threatened today to veto any changes Congress might make in Medicare's prescription drug benefit, which becomes available in January 2006 to millions of elderly and disabled people.
New cost estimates have prompted many lawmakers to say they want to revisit the new Medicare law this year. Some conservatives seek cutbacks in benefits and cost controls. Liberals and some centrists want to require the government to negotiate prices with drug manufacturers.
Buttoday, Mr. Bush said, "I signed Medicare reform proudly, and any attempt to limit the choices of our seniors and to take away their prescription drug coverage under Medicare will meet my veto."
The president made the comment at a swearing-in ceremony for Michael O. Leavitt, the new secretary of health and human services.
Members of Congress said they intended to re-examine the law and would try to revise it, despite Mr. Bush's veto threat.
Administration officials worry that the ensuing debate, including fierce attacks on the law by many Democrats, may discourage elderly people from signing up for the new drug benefit.
The law authorizes the biggest expansion of Medicare since its creation in 1965. Besides providing a new drug benefit, the law creates new managed-care care options and increases payments to private insurers, as an incentive for them to enter the Medicare market.
"This law is a landmark achievement in American health care, and millions of older Americans are already benefiting from its reforms," Mr. Bush said, referring to a drug discount card and new coverage for an initial physical examination and screenings for diabetes and high cholesterol.
Mr. Bush used almost identical words in his 2004 State of the Union address in vowing to fend off changes in the Medicare law, which he signed on Dec. 8, 2003.
"I signed this measure proudly, and any attempt to limit the choices of our seniors, or to take away their prescription drug coverage under Medicare, will meet my veto," he said then.
But the statement did not resonate then as it didtoday, because it was made at the beginning of an election year, and the criticism was coming mainly from Democrats who were trying to discredit Mr. Bush's record.
Now many Republicans, including Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, are saying that Congress must pass legislation to ensure that the drug benefit does not cost more than the original estimate of $400 billion from 2004 to 2013.
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