Senate hits reverse on Medicare drug rules

WASHINGTON – The Republican-led Senate, worried that seniors will punish GOP lawmakers at the polls for missteps in the new Medicare prescription drug program, voted Wednesday to authorize the government to lengthen the sign-up period for the benefit and to negotiate cut-rate prices with drug companies.

The Senate votes provided fresh evidence that the prescription drug insurance program, which President Bush has held up as one of the leading achievements of his presidency, has instead turned into a political liability.

The vote to allow the government to negotiate for discounts on drugs marked a major policy reversal for the Senate and a rare move against the pharmaceutical industry, one of the leading donors to federal political campaigns, with most of its money going to Republicans. Negotiations for drug discounts were barred under the 2003 law that created the drug benefit.

Although the Senate action does not carry the force of law, since the amendments were attached to a budget resolution that provides only guidance for future legislation, it carries political significance by putting the administration on notice that it cannot depend on routine approval by Congress of its implementation of the drug program.

The votes came as Bush, who has acknowledged the widespread confusion among seniors over the new benefit, personally felt the sting of seniors’ unhappiness as he faced unusually sharp questions about the program Wednesday during a visit to a Maryland senior center. The trip was intended to promote the drug benefit and to encourage seniors to sign up for the plan before May 15. After that date, they will have to pay a surcharge in order to enroll.

Bush said he was committed to keeping the May 15 deadline in place. “There’s got to be a fixed time for people to sign up,” he told one audience member who had complained that her sick mother needed more time.

Democrats have argued for weeks that the government should extend the initial enrollment period, given the confusion over how to sign up for the benefit and the widespread problems that have left many who did sign up unable to get their prescriptions filled or paid for.

And Democrats have long said that the government, which spends billions of dollars annually on pharmaceuticals through Medicare, ought to be able to negotiate with drug companies for volume discounts, as other big customers do.