Republicans Find They Have to Sell Drug Benefit Plan

[papau]

So just now folks understand the Medicare Drug Benefit was constructed to help the insurance industry and the drug industry? There is truly a media crisis. :-(


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/05/politics/05drugs.html

December 5, 2005
Republicans Find They Have to Sell Drug Benefit Plan

By ROBIN TONER and ROBERT PEAR

WASHINGTON, Dec. 4 - <snip>Nobody knows how popular the drug benefit will ultimately be with the nation's retirees, who are a critical voting bloc. But Congressional Republicans, who pushed through the Medicare drug law in 2003, have clear political ownership of it, and whatever credit or blame it brings, strategists say.

<snip>Already, many Democratic strategists argue that the new program - because of its complicated structure and gaps in coverage - could be much more of a problem than an asset for Republicans next year. Some Democratic challengers are already using the issue on the campaign trail, like Christopher S. Murphy, who hopes to unseat Representative Nancy L. Johnson of Connecticut, a senior Republican who played an important role in writing the law.<snip>

<snip>
Robert Blendon, an expert at Harvard on public opinion and health, said he believed the drug program would become a major factor in next year's elections only if so many retirees became so anxious that they failed to sign up - and then suddenly faced a penalty for doing so.

<snip>
Representative Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, scoffed at the idea that the drug benefit would help Republicans at all. "It's a loser for seniors, it's a loser for taxpayers on the political front, and it's an example that there's a cost to this corruption," he said.

<snip>
Mrs. Johnson predicted that the new Medicare law would follow the course of the 1996 welfare law. After the welfare law took effect, following years of impassioned debate, she said, it was widely accepted as a major improvement in social policy.

[cosmicdot]

1. Mark McClellan (yep, Scott's bro) says everything's great

the key word is "said" ... it's said to be off to strong start ... more PR reported as 'news'?

"Medicare drug plan said off to strong start"

By Susan Heavey
1 hour, 13 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. health officials on Thursday said Medicare's new prescription drug program was off to a strong start, with more than 21 million elderly and disabled people set to receive coverage on January 1.

The Department of Health and Human Services is expecting between 28 million and 30 million beneficiaries to enroll for the new benefit by the end of 2006.

"We're very much on track for meeting that goal," said Mark McClellan, head of the agency that runs the nation's insurance program.

~snip~

http://makeashorterlink.com/?I2B621B5C