28 Apr 2004

White House Spends $18M on Medicare Ad

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration is spending $18 million on a new round of taxpayer-funded television advertising to promote the Medicare discount drug card, the Medicare administrator said Tuesday.

A Democratic senator criticized the ad as deceptive.

Enrollment for the card begins next week, the first widely available benefit from the new Medicare law that has been steeped in controversy since its passage in November.

Seeking to avoid criticism that surrounded the first Medicare ad, in February, the latest offering makes few specific claims and is narrowly focused on introducing the cards and the $600 subsidy available for low-income Medicare recipients.

The ad, which began airing this week, shows a line of older people at a pharmacy. Most have Medicare-approved cards that emit a blue light.

At the end, one disappointed-looking man steps to the pharmacy counter without a Medicare-approved card. "Because you either have the power to save. Or you don't," the announcer says.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., said the administration put important information that described the limits of the drug card in small print.

"You need a microscope to read the fine print that appears for a few seconds that reveals that you must pay an enrollment fee and that `exclusions apply,'" Lautenberg said. "The major `exclusion' could be the drug you need; the card may not offer any discount for many medications."

In addition, the ad text that Medicare posted on its Web site omits the language about exclusions. A Medicare official said it was just a clerical error.

A second ad will air in May. The cards can be used starting June 1.

The government is estimating that around 7 million of the 41 million older and disabled Americans who take part in the government-run health care program will sign up for a card.

Medicare has approved 73 cards so far, 39 of which will be available nationally, said Dr. Mark McClellan, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Seniors groups have been urging people to weigh whether a card would offer greater savings than what is available using existing cards or buying prescription drugs from Canada.

Democrats and some advocacy groups said the earlier ad, which generally praised the new law, was political and not informative.

By MARK SHERMAN ASSOCIATED PRESS 4/28/04

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