Medicare is the federal government-run program that insures some 40 million people age 65 and over. But since 2000, its monthly premiums have almost doubled - rising from $45 to $88.

The measure, by U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson ( D-Fla ), would cut by about a third the premium hike coming in 2007; and, would offset the cost by requiring drug companies to give steep discounts to Medicaid HMOs. Nelson’s proposal has drawn the support of the 35-million member AARP.

The proposal - in the form of an amendment to the budget reconciliation bill - would save seniors covered by Medicare, Part B an estimated $1 billion, Nelson said. “Seniors simply can’t afford higher and higher premiums,” he said. “Many of them are on fixed incomes.”

Under the budget reconciliation bill, doctors would get a one-percent increase in Medicare reimbursements next year, instead of a 4.3 percent cut. A fourth of that increase would be paid for by increasing the premium on seniors in 2007. The amendment would exempt them from paying that hike.

Nelson credited Democratic Senate colleagues, including Minority Leader Harry Reid and Sen. John Kerry, with center-piecing his Medicare amendment in the upcoming budget debates.

“It does us no good to fix old problems by creating new problems. This [ budget ] bill does just that by helping doctors with higher reimbursement and passing the cost onto seniors,” Kerry said. “Our amendment fixes that policy by protecting seniors from rising costs.

“Nearly half of Americans over the age 50 who file for bankruptcy say they filed because of a medical reason,” Kerry said. “When we are passing billions in tax cuts for the wealthiest among us, we can do better for our seniors. It’s time for Washington to do right by America's seniors and adopt this common-sense solution.”

Nelson said he believes both Republicans and Democrats will support the measure when it comes up for a vote, possibly this week, considering groups such as the AARP strongly back it. In fact, in a letter to Nelson today, a top AARP official wrote that “your amendment is necessary to ensure health care does not become increasingly unaffordable.”

# # #