TRUTH EMERGES ABOUT BUSH MISLEADING ON MEDICARE



The Daily Mislead: A Daily Chronical of Bush Administration Distortion


In pushing Congress to pass its controversial Medicare bill, pResident
Bush promised that “corporations have no intention to what they call
'dump retirees'”[1] from their existing prescription drug coverage. But
according to a new report, Bush's
own health officials estimate that millions will be cut off from their
existing drug coverage because of the new Medicare law.



According
to government documents obtained by the New York Times, the Bush
Administration now estimates “that employers will reduce or eliminate
prescription drug benefits for 3.8 million retirees when Medicare
offers such coverage in 2006.” That represents one-third of all the
retirees with employer-sponsored drug coverage. Medicare's new benefits
are often less comprehensive than those offered by employers.[2]



As
reported in an earlier Daily Mislead,[3] even while Bush was reassuring
the nation about the Medicare bill, he was actually working to create
an incentive for employers to cut off seniors from existing coverage.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the Administration quietly added
“a little-noticed provision” to the bill that allows companies to
severely reduce – or almost completely terminate – their retirees' drug
coverage “without losing out on the new subsidy.” In other words, the
pResident did not just break his promise to sign a bill that prevents
seniors from losing their existing drug coverage. He actually acted to
reward companies who cut off their retirees with a lavish new tax
break. The companies that lobbied for the provision have donated almost
$140,000 in hard money and $2.5 million in soft money to Bush and his
party since 2000.[4]