Drug Benefit Plan Spurs Early Criticism

Before President Clinton’s formal announcement of a plan to add prescription coverage to Medicare, lawmakers from both parties were already saying the plan is too ambitious, and they urged limiting the new drug coverage to the working poor. At “very little” cost to taxpayers, all 39 million Americans covered by Medicare could get prescription benefits without bankrupting the program, administration officials said in previewing Clinton’s reform plan. But on Capitol Hill, there was skepticism Clinton could save Medicare from bankruptcy and introduce a significant new benefit. Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas) said two-thirds of Medicare recipients already have prescription coverage, either through Medicaid or private Medigap policies. “I don’t understand why we would want to drive those private programs out and substitute a government program for it,” Gramm said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.) said the way to save Medicare “is not to load it up with another big costly benefit that nobody pays for even though everybody wants it.”