Budget Outlook Jeopardizes Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit, Inquirer Reports

The shrinking budget surplus has made it unlikely that Congress will add a prescription drug benefit to Medicare in the near future, as funding the $300 billion, 10-year plan "appears all but impossible," the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. That figure was agreed to in the fiscal year 2002 budget resolution passed by Congress earlier this year, and lawmakers from both parties, as well as President Bush, have given their support to a drug benefit. But the parties remain philosophically divided on how to administer a benefit, with Democrats wanting to add a uniform program to the current Medicare system and Republicans saying a benefit should accompany broader "structural reforms" of Medicare and be linked to beneficiary income. A report from the Congressional Budget Office this week that concluded the government will likely have to use $9 billion of the Social Security surplus in order to pay for other programs this year, which "would violate pledges from both parties" not to touch that money, further complicates funding for a Medicare drug benefit, as Congress would likely have to dip further into Social Security funds to pay for the program. "The budget numbers are the nail in the coffin for the idea of a prescription drug benefit this year," Robert Bixby, executive director of the Concord Coalition, said.

'Bogus Proposals' on Horizon?
Still, the Inquirer reports that "members of Congress fear voters may punish them" in the 2002 elections for failing to pass a drug benefit after the political attention it received in the 2000 elections. Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, said he was concerned that "some real bogus proposals" could emerge in order to "appease voters." Nevertheless, President Bush -- "without suggesting how to pay for" a benefit -- "reiterated his support" for a drug program this week, and Congress will soon go to work on implementing the budget resolution. Michael Siegel, a spokesperson for Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), said, "There is no question the economic landscape has changed dramatically right now. But it's still on the table as one of the top priorities" (Koszczuk, Philadelphia Inquirer, 8/31).