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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Bush wants wealthier to pay more for Medicare

Kevin Freking Associated Press

WASHINGTON – The Bush administration will ask Congress to increase the monthly premiums that wealthier Medicare beneficiaries pay for prescription drug coverage, officials said Friday.

The administration’s proposal is part of a first-of-its-kind response to a warning about Medicare’s strain on the federal treasury.

Even though Congress passed a law requiring the president to submit such cost-saving proposals, its prospects for passage are dim.

The legislation being offered would reduce the government subsidy for wealthier beneficiaries participating in the Medicare drug program. As a result, individuals making $82,000 a year, or married beneficiaries earning more than $164,000 a year, would pay higher premiums. It is not clear exactly how much they would go up.

The income thresholds would not be indexed for inflation, so more and more people would eventually pay more for the drug benefit. The higher premiums would affect about 4.5 percent of beneficiaries in 2009.

Bush’s proposal also includes limits on non-economic and punitive damages awarded in medical malpractice cases.

In addition, it gives the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Service authority to set up a reimbursement system that pays health care providers based partially on the quality of their work. Now, Medicare pays a set fee for a particular service, regardless of quality.

The wide-ranging proposal is designed to keep Medicare from relying so much on the general treasury. The law requires the president to propose such legislation once Medicare’s board of trustees projects the entitlement program will soon rely on general revenue for more than 45 percent of its funding.

The Medicare program provides health coverage to about 44 million elderly and disabled people. Medicare spending is expected to reach $425 billion this year. The program is growing at a rate of about 7 percent a year.

Democratic lawmakers have called the 45-percent threshold arbitrary and designed to take certain options off the table when dealing with Medicare, namely higher income taxes.

“The trigger was created as a political ploy to foster a panic that Medicare is unsustainable,” said Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif.

Democrats also have offered ways to slow Medicare spending. But their preference is to trim payments to private insurers serving the elderly through a program called Medicare Advantage.