Bush Urges GOP on Medicare Drug Benefit

President Bush, center, meets with CVS Corp. President and Chief Executive Officer Tom Ryan, right, and retiree Lois Hardison during a round-table discussion of Medicare, Friday, Oct. 20,2 006 at the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak) (Charles Dharapak - AP)

WASHINGTON -- President Bush said Friday that Republicans are missing an opportunity if they're not talking up the Medicare drug benefit while campaigning this election season.

"I think this is a fantastic program, but more importantly, so do the seniors," he said in an interview with The Associated Press.

The drug program was rife with problems at the outset, but reports indicate that in recent months it has been operating smoothly. The administration estimates that the average elderly or disabled person will save about $1,100 annually on medicine.

Polls indicate that most participants are satisfied.

"My own view is our candidates and the people who voted for this ought to be out there traveling to senior centers all over their districts and their state saying, 'Look what we did,'" Bush said.

Democrats, however, say revising the plan would be a first order of business if they regain control of Congress.

The program allows seniors and the disabled to enroll in private plans that negotiate drug prices with manufacturers. The program is subsidized by the federal government and is expected to cost taxpayers about $30 billion this year.

Democratic lawmakers say the government should do the price negotiations, using its considerable purchasing power to lower the cost for seniors. Also, many Democrats would like to simplify the program by letting the government administer a plan instead of relying on dozens of private insurers.

Seniors would flock to the government-administered plan, Democrats say, because it would more closely resemble how they use Medicare to pay for visits to the family doctor.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., promises that Democrats would move quickly to give the secretary of health and human services negotiation powers, similar to the way the Veterans Affairs Department negotiates prices for the drugs that it covers.

"As pharmaceutical companies reap record profits, it's clear the president's flawed prescription drug plan is working better for drug companies than it is for America's seniors," Pelosi said Friday. "It is no wonder that the Republican prescription drug bill actually bars Medicare from negotiating lower drug prices for seniors."

But the president said that he likes having dozens of private insurance plans competing for business _ that the competition leads to better prices and service.