MEDICARE Conservatives threaten to reject compromise bill

Bush wants lawmakers to OK prescription drug legislation this year.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Thirteen conservative Republican lawmakers threatened Wednesday to oppose a Medicare prescription drug program if it costs more than $400 billion over the next decade.
The letter, written by Rep. Patrick Toomey, R-Pa., urged fellow House members to hold the line on spending and resist any efforts to water down the bill to obtain a compromise with the Senate.
"Our deep reservations about the fiscal soundness of the prescription drug bill have been heightened by the recently released Congressional Budget Office report on this bill," the 13 lawmakers wrote. "Just days after we voted for a bill advertised as costing less than $400 billion, CBO revised its estimates and now believes that the cost of the bill will significantly exceed $400 billion.
"This is very troubling, especially considering the history of federal entitlement programs costing far more than their early projections," the lawmakers wrote.
The House passed the Medicare plan by a single vote in June. It would help seniors buy prescription drugs under the Medicare health-care program.
President Bush has urged lawmakers to approve prescription drug legislation before adjourning for the year. As recently as last week, ranking Senate Democrats warned Republicans against trying to fashion a House-Senate compromise drawn to conservative specifications.
"I'd rather have a good bill," said Sen. Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat.
who worked closely this year with Republicans to craft a bill that passed the Senate with bipartisanship support. "But no bill is better than a bad bill."
The 13 conservatives, who described themselves in the letter as having "voted reluctantly" for the Medicare package earlier this summer, said they would support only a compromise that includes:
*No price controls on the domestic drug industry;
*Plans to require Medicare to compete with private insurers after 2010;
*Expansion of health-care savings accounts;
*A cost to not exceed $400 billion over 10 years.
Others who signed letter
Toomey, challenging Sen. Arlen Specter in a GOP primary next year in Pennsylvania, was joined in the letter by Republican Reps. Sue Myrick of North Carolina; Tom Feeney of Florida; Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee; Joseph R. Pitts of Pennsylvania; Roscoe Bartlett of Maryland; Trent Franks of Arizona; Gresham Barrett of South Carolina; Scott Garrett of New Jersey; David Vitter of Louisiana; and Joe Barton, Jeb Hensarling and John R. Carter of Texas.