Bush Rejects Push to Extend Drug-Benefit Deadline
    By Steve Holland
    Reuters

    Wednesday 15 March 2006

    Silver Spring, Maryland - US President George W. Bush on Wednesday rejected calls to extend a May 15 deadline for the elderly to sign up for a new prescription drugs plan despite complaints that it is too confusing.

    At a meeting with residents of a senior citizen community in Silver Spring, just outside Washington, Bush said families of older Americans, particularly adult children, should help them sort out their Medicare options.

    One woman, saying she was having trouble helping her 75-year-old mother make a choice, asked whether the deadline should be extended.

    "No, and the reason why is there's got to be a fixed time for people to sign up," the president said.

    The Republican-controlled Senate, meanwhile, narrowly defeated a measure that would have extended the deadline until the end of the year. Eligible people face a penalty if they seek drug benefits after May 15.

    The Senate did vote to give the secretary of Health and Human Services power to alter the deadline if he deems it necessary. The US House of Representatives has not yet acted on that measure.

    Backers of a deadline extension are likely to try again in the Senate before May 15.

    'They Are Bewildered'

    About 26 million elderly people are now enrolled but many others are shunning the program.

    "They are bewildered," Florida Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, a proponent of extending the deadline, said during Senate debate on the two measures.

    Many Democrats have long opposed the basic structure of the drug program, which relies on private insurers and health plans to deliver the benefits.

    Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican, sought to avoid a showdown over the deadline by giving HHS flexibility to act. He said, however, that he thinks enrollment is going well and that the Democrats seeking to push back the date are assuming "a bad outcome."

    The January launch of the prescription drug program, created by legislation that Bush had vigorously supported, has been marked by glitches and bewilderment among some at the long list of choices offered.

    Democrats view the issue as a source of vulnerability for Republican congressional candidates, who are struggling to keep their majority in the November midterm elections.

    They fault Bush and his allies in Congress for allowing insurers, pharmacies and other private interests to have too big a role in shaping the measure.

    Bush has acknowledged some have found the choices confusing but said that the program is a good deal for seniors and that the government was working to improve initial glitches in the enrollment.

    Not everyone was happy that Bush was at the Riderwood Village retirement community. On the drive out of the complex, Bush passed a gaggle of people happily waving. Just beyond the group sat a couple on a bench holding a sign that said, "Impeach George W. Bush."