Durbin promotes medication bill; Measure would subsidize drugs for Medicare recipients

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin met with Springfield senior citizens Monday and promoted a Democratic bill to subsidize cheaper medication for Medicare recipients.

Durbin, a Springfield Democrat who faces his first re-election campaign this year, has signed on as a co-sponsor to the Senate bill. Senate Democrats and House Republicans unveiled competing election-year prescription drug proposals in quick succession last month. Durbin said the Republican plan would cover an inadequate number of seniors, while the bill he favors would offer benefits to all seniors on Medicare who wanted them.

"The gist is kind of token coverage," Durbin said of the House Republican proposal. "It really leaves (most seniors) vulnerable in terms of their personal liability."
Durbin spokeswoman Stacey Zolt said the GOP bill was targeted at the neediest senior citizens.

Durbin said the voluntary Democratic plan would require a $25 monthly premium, comparable to the health insurance plans of many private businesses. In return, it would cap prescription co-pays at $10 for generic medications and $40 for brand-name drugs such as Paxil and Zoloft. Lower-income seniors could qualify for the government to pay some or all of their premiums.

A spokesman for state Rep. Jim Durkin, Durbin's GOP opponent in the Nov. 5 election, said Durkin favors the House Republican bill as a more cost-conscious alternative in an uncertain economy.

"It takes care of seniors who have a serious need, and it doesn't break the bank," said Thom Karmik, who accused Durbin of "pandering to election-year needs."

"A little bit of compromise is necessary, and it's cynical for the Democrats to float this outrageously expensive bill in an election year and say, 'Look, we care more about seniors,'" Karmik said.

Congressional backers of the Democratic bill estimate its cost at $450 billion to $500 billion over 10 years.

The Republican bill is designed to cost $325 billion to $350 billion. Durbin, however, declined to predict specific costs, and Karnik said he was personally unfamiliar with the numbers.

Local AARP officials organized the group of elderly voters Durbin met with.

The national AARP supports the Democratic bill.
Durbin told the senior citizens his plan would consolidate seniors' drug-buying power and let the federal government bargain with drug companies for lower prices, as state governments, veterans' hospitals and private HMOs already do.

"You're the ones who don't have anyone bargaining for you," Durbin said. "You have to bargain one-on-one, and you just can't do it."

The Republican bill relies on financial incentives for insurance companies to offer drug benefits to seniors on Medicare.

Democratic Sens. Ted Kennedy, Zell Miller and Bob Graham introduced the bill Durbin supports. Last year, President Bush publicized his efforts to craft a bipartisan health-care bill with Kennedy that would include prescription drug benefits.
Kennedy abandoned those negotiations, citing a stalemate, and Bush now supports the House Republican bill.

Publication: The State Journal-Register
Date: 06/18/02
Author: JEFF DRUCHNIAK STATE CAPITOL BUREAU

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