For GOP, Time for Soothing, Selling

"This is not easy," Reynolds told a group of 40 seniors at a workshop in Brockport, N.Y. "This is the first change of any major magnitude" to the Medicare program, which was created in 1965. "There will be an initial uneasiness."

In Connecticut, the Department of Social Services is conducting an average of 100 enrollment-related events per month, hosting them at senior centers, libraries and churches. The focus is providing one-on-one assistance to enable seniors to plug their drug needs into a coverage calculator on the Medicare.gov Web site. If the location is not Internet-equipped, the agency will drive equipment to the site in a specially outfitted bus.

Rep. Nancy L. Johnson (R-Conn.) helped write the drug benefit legislation, which has made her a major target of Democrats in this year's campaign. Like Reynolds, she believes seniors are becoming more accepting, and credits the intensive counseling effort along with the savings that participants are beginning to see.

"I've met seniors in my district who will save up to $5,000 a year," Johnson said. "As this news spreads, more and more seniors are going to sign up and get the help they need and deserve."

Despite the negative reaction and unfavorable media accounts, there are signs, Reynolds and his GOP colleagues said, that the mood among seniors is shifting -- signs that give Republicans hope that the benefit will be perceived as a neutral, or even positive force, by voters in November.

Last fall, during the first round of workshops, the crowds were overflowing and rowdy, and people did not grasp basic facts -- including whether spouses could pick separate plans. Now the audiences are smaller, the questions more detailed.

Seniors still do plenty of complaining, but they take a more practical view, showing up with notepads and no longer stumbling over jargon. For example, seniors who attended Reynolds's sessions knew all about the "doughnut hole" -- a gap in coverage from $2,250 to $5,100 that many plans feature.

Reynolds's workshops featured presentations by officials from the Social Security Administration and from state and local senior services agencies, but their tone was closer to a group therapy session, with the congressman commiserating along with his constituents about various glitches.

One frail-looking woman, who was hooked up to an oxygen tube, told Reynolds that she needed help comparing plans: "I tried to look on Medicare.gov, but it said I didn't have enough browser capacity." He nodded and replied, "We need phone lines. We're on that."

Some at the workshops had done extensive homework. Sally Robins, 74, arrived at the Batavia session having already compared several plans' deductibles and co-payments, and wanted to double-check a few assumptions before deciding.

"I learned exactly what I needed to know," Robins said after huddling with a state health care official for about 10 minutes.

When Carol Arlidge and Ann Rogger arrived at the Brockport meeting, they had given the benefit little thought. Arlidge's medication bills are low, and Rogger had been taking care of her ailing husband, who recently died.

Afterward, they said they were eager to get started -- a conversion that Republicans can only hope is typical. "This was so helpful," Rogger said. "I'm going to get on this and figure it out."