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Bush to seniors: Drug plan is working

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SILVER SPRING, Md. — President Bush on Wednesday rejected calls to extend a May 15 deadline for the elderly to sign up for a new prescription drugs plan despite complaints that it is too confusing.

At a meeting with residents of a senior citizen housing development in Silver Spring, just outside Washington, Bush said families of older Americans, particularly adult children, should help them sort out their Medicare options.

One woman, saying she was having trouble helping her 75-year-old mother make a choice, asked whether the deadline should be extended.

"No, and the reason why is there's got to be a fixed time for people to sign up," the president said.

The Republican-controlled Senate, meanwhile, narrowly defeated a measure that would have extended the deadline until the end of the year. Eligible people face a penalty if they seek drug benefits after May 15.

The Senate did vote 76-22 to give the secretary of health and human services the power to alter the deadline if he deems it necessary. The House has not yet acted on that measure.

Backers of a deadline extension are likely to try again in the Senate before May 15.

About 26 million elderly people are now enrolled, but many others are shunning the program.

"They are bewildered," Florida Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, a proponent of extending the deadline, said during Senate debate on the two measures.

Many Democrats have long opposed the basic structure of the drug program, which relies on private insurers and health plans to deliver the benefits.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, sought to avoid a showdown over the deadline by giving the Department of Health and Human Services flexibility to act. He said, however, that he thinks enrollment is going well and that the Democrats seeking to push back the date are assuming "a bad outcome."

The January launch of the prescription drug program, created by legislation that Bush had vigorously supported, has been marked by glitches and bewilderment among some at the long list of choices offered.