Democrats avoid battle over entitlement spending
WASHINGTON—Congressional efforts to deal with growing Medicare spending will be set aside for another year under a rule change approved by the House on Thursday.
The rule was approved largely along party lines, 231-184, with Democrats pushing for the change.
In response to a warning from Medicare's trustees, President Bush recommended steps earlier this year that would lessen the entitlement program's reliance on general revenues. Bush proposed having wealthier beneficiaries pay higher monthly premiums for the program's prescription drug benefit as well as limiting punitive damages awarded in medical malpractice cases.
The changes Bush sought were designed to keep general revenues from covering more than 45 percent of overall Medicare costs through at least 2013.
Under law, Congress is required to consider the president's recommendations on an expedited basis. The resolution that the House passed on Thursday suspends that requirement for the House. The resolution does not require Senate action to go into effect.
Democratic lawmakers said the rule change was necessary because the 45-percent threshold was an arbitrary limit that would essentially force benefit cuts or shift more costs onto beneficiaries, said Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif. The limit was "crafted to do a hatchet-job on Medicare," he said.
But Republican lawmakers said that spending on federal health programs is growing at a level that cannot be sustained and that failure to slow the program's growth puts other important national priorities at risk.
"Ignoring these crises will not make them go away," said Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio. "But that is just what Democrats would do: ignore the entitlement crisis so our children and grandchildren are left to pay the price."
Under the changes that Bush sought, about 4.5 percent of Medicare beneficiaries next year would pay higher monthly premiums for their drug coverage. The change would have saved $3.1 billion over five years.
White House press secretary Dana Perino chided Democrats for "abandoning any responsibility to deal with runaway entitlement spending."
Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt referred to the measure as "parliamentary sleight of hand" that would do nothing to resolve enormous financial problems posed by Medicare.
Stark countered that Democratic lawmakers led efforts earlier this month that accomplished what the president's recommendations would have done -- limited Medicare's reliance on general revenues below the 45 percent threshold. That bill voided a large pay cut for doctors and lowered spending on private insurance plans serving Medicare beneficiaries.
