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American Morning

Prescription Drug Benefit for People on Medicare

Aired October 24, 2003 - 07:32   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Back to D.C. A prescription drug benefit for people on Medicare, President Bush says is one of his top domestic priorities. Congressional negotiators now trying to work out a compromise, but easier said than done always is the case, it seems.
From Capitol Hill, here's Jonathan Karl this morning -- Jonathan, good morning there.

JONATHAN KARL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

Well, virtually every member of Congress claims to support the big $400 billion new prescription drug benefit, but as House and Senate leaders try to negotiate the final compromise, Democrats are warning they don't like what they hear and yesterday they fired this warning shot at the House-Senate conference committee negotiating the bill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: We're reaching the final hours. We call on the president to intervene and to exercise judgment in this conference to indicate that they want a bipartisan bill. It's still possible. But we're further away from that possibility today than at any time since the conference first began.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KARL: In a letter to the president, Senator Kennedy and 40 other senators, 39 of them Democrats, wrote, "A partisan conference report that jeopardizes Medicare and does not provide meaningful assistance to the elderly and disabled should not and will not pass."

Now, Democrats have a long list of concerns, but chief among them are changes the bill would make to Medicare that would put Medicare in direct competition with private insurance companies. Now, Democrats say that will kill the bill. Republicans are saying not so fast, they're addressing Democratic concerns, but the final bill needs to have some competition in it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. BILLY TAUZIN, (R-LA), ENERGY COMMERCE CHAIRMAN: We're working through those concerns and they're not invalid concerns. They're real concerns. We're trying to work through them and at the same time keep the benefit of the competitive tension. If you don't the tension of a competitive system, you don't get lower prices.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KARL: But here's the thing, as Democrats have their concerns in the Senate, conservatives in the House are warning that if the changes Democrats demand are made that they will oppose the bill and they will kill it over in the House. So the one thing going for this in this damned if you do, damned if you don't situation, Bill, is that virtually every member of Congress has campaigned, in part, promising to provide prescription drug coverage for seniors.

HEMMER: Jonathan, thanks, from Capitol Hill.

Appreciate that.

Two of the senators trying to craft a compromise with us now, also from D.C., the Democrat, John Breaux of Louisiana, and the Republican, Chuck Grassley.

Good morning, gentlemen.

Nice to have you here on AMERICAN MORNING.

SEN. CHARLES GRASSLEY (R), IOWA: Good morning.

SEN. JOHN BREAUX (D), LOUISIANA: Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: Senator Breaux, why don't you start us off here? There's competition in both plans, the Democrats' and the Republicans'. But what about this measure to try and get Medicare to repeat on a private level? What's wrong with that?

BREAUX: Well, I think if it's crafted properly that it's not something that's outside the realm of possibility. I think that what some of us who have been working on this for five years and more have said, that at some point you could possibly test whether the private sector could do a better job than the traditional old style fee for service. And I think that many of us would just like to test it. And I think you could construct a test of this concept and yet still protect those who choose to stay in the old system.

And I think that would give us very valuable information about the future direction of the program. And we have to do it in a bipartisan fashion.

HEMMER: So what you're saying is you'll dip the toe in the water, but not the entire leg?

BREAUX: I think both sides are very concerned about going too far in one direction or the other. I think many Republicans want a full blown competition. Many Democrats say look, let's not go that fast, but I think are willing to at least test the concept.

HEMMER: All right, Senator Grassley, on the Democratic side, what they want is to allow the inflow, or more of it, anyway, from Canada, so many seniors can get drugs at a much cheaper price. On the Democratic side, that's how they see the competition. From your perspective, what's wrong with that, opening that door wider? GRASSLEY: There's nothing wrong with it. I voted for that over the last four years. We'll have something like that in our final package. I think you ought to remember the bottom line here is that I've never been on a finance committee, conference committee negotiations that we have not come out with a product. It's never failed. It won't fail this time. And it's too late to let partisan politics interfere. I don't think it will interfere. I think you're going to have some partisan statements between now and the next two or three weeks.

But I think everybody has good will to get something done because we've worked on this too long, as Senator Breaux has said. We're going to end up with an affordable prescription drug program for seniors. It's going to give them choice. It's going to be voluntary. It's going to be universal and it's going to be very comprehensive.

HEMMER: But will it pass, knowing this letter was sent to the White House?

GRASSLEY: Well, all I can tell you is that I've been on conference committees before where people have drawn lines in the sand, but I've never been on a conference committee of the Finance Committee that has failed and their products have passed the Senate. And in order to get something through the Senate, you know it's got to be bipartisanship.

HEMMER: Yes, Senator Breaux, I know you did not sign that. Thirty-nine of your colleagues on the Democratic side did. Why did you not get on board that letter?

BREAUX: Well, as a member of the conference that's trying to negotiate that, I don't want to stake out an absolute position at this time. I want to try and work within the system to bring both sides together, to get a bill that we can absolutely pass.

The stakes are very high. I mean this is monumental. This is not just normal legislation. We're talking about working to improve a system that 40 million Americans depend on. This is very important stuff and we have to work within the system to get it done and that's what we're working on.

HEMMER: And an election year is soon upon us, too.

Senator Breaux, Senator Charles Grassley, thank you, gentlemen.

Good luck to you in committee on that.

BREAUX: Thanks, Bill.

HEMMER: All right.

GRASSLEY: Thank you, Bill.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired October 24, 2003 - 07:32   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Back to D.C. A prescription drug benefit for people on Medicare, President Bush says is one of his top domestic priorities. Congressional negotiators now trying to work out a compromise, but easier said than done always is the case, it seems.
From Capitol Hill, here's Jonathan Karl this morning -- Jonathan, good morning there.

JONATHAN KARL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

Well, virtually every member of Congress claims to support the big $400 billion new prescription drug benefit, but as House and Senate leaders try to negotiate the final compromise, Democrats are warning they don't like what they hear and yesterday they fired this warning shot at the House-Senate conference committee negotiating the bill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: We're reaching the final hours. We call on the president to intervene and to exercise judgment in this conference to indicate that they want a bipartisan bill. It's still possible. But we're further away from that possibility today than at any time since the conference first began.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KARL: In a letter to the president, Senator Kennedy and 40 other senators, 39 of them Democrats, wrote, "A partisan conference report that jeopardizes Medicare and does not provide meaningful assistance to the elderly and disabled should not and will not pass."

Now, Democrats have a long list of concerns, but chief among them are changes the bill would make to Medicare that would put Medicare in direct competition with private insurance companies. Now, Democrats say that will kill the bill. Republicans are saying not so fast, they're addressing Democratic concerns, but the final bill needs to have some competition in it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. BILLY TAUZIN, (R-LA), ENERGY COMMERCE CHAIRMAN: We're working through those concerns and they're not invalid concerns. They're real concerns. We're trying to work through them and at the same time keep the benefit of the competitive tension. If you don't the tension of a competitive system, you don't get lower prices.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KARL: But here's the thing, as Democrats have their concerns in the Senate, conservatives in the House are warning that if the changes Democrats demand are made that they will oppose the bill and they will kill it over in the House. So the one thing going for this in this damned if you do, damned if you don't situation, Bill, is that virtually every member of Congress has campaigned, in part, promising to provide prescription drug coverage for seniors.

HEMMER: Jonathan, thanks, from Capitol Hill.

Appreciate that.

Two of the senators trying to craft a compromise with us now, also from D.C., the Democrat, John Breaux of Louisiana, and the Republican, Chuck Grassley.

Good morning, gentlemen.

Nice to have you here on AMERICAN MORNING.

SEN. CHARLES GRASSLEY (R), IOWA: Good morning.

SEN. JOHN BREAUX (D), LOUISIANA: Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: Senator Breaux, why don't you start us off here? There's competition in both plans, the Democrats' and the Republicans'. But what about this measure to try and get Medicare to repeat on a private level? What's wrong with that?

BREAUX: Well, I think if it's crafted properly that it's not something that's outside the realm of possibility. I think that what some of us who have been working on this for five years and more have said, that at some point you could possibly test whether the private sector could do a better job than the traditional old style fee for service. And I think that many of us would just like to test it. And I think you could construct a test of this concept and yet still protect those who choose to stay in the old system.

And I think that would give us very valuable information about the future direction of the program. And we have to do it in a bipartisan fashion.

HEMMER: So what you're saying is you'll dip the toe in the water, but not the entire leg?

BREAUX: I think both sides are very concerned about going too far in one direction or the other. I think many Republicans want a full blown competition. Many Democrats say look, let's not go that fast, but I think are willing to at least test the concept.

HEMMER: All right, Senator Grassley, on the Democratic side, what they want is to allow the inflow, or more of it, anyway, from Canada, so many seniors can get drugs at a much cheaper price. On the Democratic side, that's how they see the competition. From your perspective, what's wrong with that, opening that door wider? GRASSLEY: There's nothing wrong with it. I voted for that over the last four years. We'll have something like that in our final package. I think you ought to remember the bottom line here is that I've never been on a finance committee, conference committee negotiations that we have not come out with a product. It's never failed. It won't fail this time. And it's too late to let partisan politics interfere. I don't think it will interfere. I think you're going to have some partisan statements between now and the next two or three weeks.

But I think everybody has good will to get something done because we've worked on this too long, as Senator Breaux has said. We're going to end up with an affordable prescription drug program for seniors. It's going to give them choice. It's going to be voluntary. It's going to be universal and it's going to be very comprehensive.

HEMMER: But will it pass, knowing this letter was sent to the White House?

GRASSLEY: Well, all I can tell you is that I've been on conference committees before where people have drawn lines in the sand, but I've never been on a conference committee of the Finance Committee that has failed and their products have passed the Senate. And in order to get something through the Senate, you know it's got to be bipartisanship.

HEMMER: Yes, Senator Breaux, I know you did not sign that. Thirty-nine of your colleagues on the Democratic side did. Why did you not get on board that letter?

BREAUX: Well, as a member of the conference that's trying to negotiate that, I don't want to stake out an absolute position at this time. I want to try and work within the system to bring both sides together, to get a bill that we can absolutely pass.

The stakes are very high. I mean this is monumental. This is not just normal legislation. We're talking about working to improve a system that 40 million Americans depend on. This is very important stuff and we have to work within the system to get it done and that's what we're working on.

HEMMER: And an election year is soon upon us, too.

Senator Breaux, Senator Charles Grassley, thank you, gentlemen.

Good luck to you in committee on that.

BREAUX: Thanks, Bill.

HEMMER: All right.

GRASSLEY: Thank you, Bill.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com