Truth Emerges About Bush Misleading on Medicare

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> Wed, 14 Jul 2004 17:44:35 -0400 (EDT)

> The Daily Mislead <latest

 

> Truth Emerges About Bush Misleading on

> Medicare

>

> ===============================

> THE DAILY MIS-LEAD

> <

> http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2973095 & l=45853

> >

> ===============================

>

> TRUTH EMERGES ABOUT BUSH MISLEADING ON MEDICARE

>

> 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 donated almost $140,000 in hard

> money and $2.5 million in

> soft money to Bush and his party since 2000.[4]

>

> Sources:

>

> 1. Presidential Remarks, WhiteHouse.gov, 10/29/03,

>

http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2973095 & l=45854.

> 2. " Medicare Law Is Seen Leading to Cuts in Drug

> Benefits for Retirees, " New

> York Times, 7/14/04,

>

http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2973095 & l=45855.

> 3. " Bush Acts to Reward Companies Who Cut off

> Seniors' Drug Coverage, "

> Misleader.org, 1/08/04,

>

http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2973095 & l=45856.

> 4. Ibid,

>

http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2973095 & l=45856.

>

> Visit www.misleader.org for more about Bush

> Administration distortion »

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