Bush touts Part D but Congress is not so sure

Spurred by election-year jitters and anxious seniors, Congress might consider changes in the new Medicare prescription drug plan even as President Bush works to convince the public that he is getting the troubled program on track.Bush, who counts the enactment of the program as one of his signature domestic achievements, is stepping up his efforts this week to defend it and prod people to join, scheduling appearances such as the one today at Riderwood Village in Silver Spring in an effort to calm seniors’ worries about the plan.

“It’s a good deal,” Bush said yesterday at a Canandaigua, N.Y., senior center. The president said he was “aiming to convince people to – the very minimum – to take a look. I think you’re going to like what you see.”The president is also working closely behind the scenes with health insurers who offer the drug benefits in order to counter a campaign-style effort that liberal groups began this week to bash the program and help Democrats exact a political price from those who backed it.The bigger challenge might come from uneasy Republicans who are increasingly signing on to proposals to modify the program or shield seniors from its difficulties.

Read more in the Baltimore Sun.

Ed:  numerous bills have already been introduced that would correct deficiencies in the current Part D program.  See, for example,

Medicare-Guaranteed Prescription Drug Act of 2006 (Introduced in Senate)

S 2342 IS

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to deliver a meaningful benefit and lower prescription  drug prices under the Medicare  program.

Or visit thomas.loc.gov and search using the term “medicare prescription”.