GAO to Probe Bush Adm. $10m. Ad Campaign Publicizing Medicare Changes

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washingtonpost.com GAO to Probe Ads Publicizing Medicare Changes By Amy GoldsteinWashington Post Staff WriterSaturday, February 7, 2004; Page A03 At the request of several congressional Democrats, the General Accounting Office has decided to investigate whether the Bush administration is using for political purposes a federally funded $9.5 million television advertising campaign and $10 million worth of brochures about the new Medicare prescription drug law. The inquiry, initiated by nine Democratic lawmakers, is part of an escalating, multipronged effort by the law's critics to undermine public support for the legislation. The law, enacted three months ago, will add drug benefits to the program and create a larger role in it for private health plans.In recent days, the Democratic National Committee and party campaign organizations have charged that the Medicare ads, which began this week, were developed by a media company that has done work for President Bush's reelection campaign and for groups aligned with the pharmaceutical industry. Democratic pressure led the House ethics committee to begin an inquiry into whether House GOP leaders threatened or bribed one Republican lawmaker who reluctantly voted for the legislation when it passed that chamber after an unprecedented three-hour roll call.Meanwhile, eight House Democrats are calling on the Department of Health and Human Services inspector general to investigate the same materials the GAO has agreed to examine.Such tactics by Democrats reflect the volatile politics surrounding the changes to Medicare even after they have become law. A week ago, the White House said it had concluded that the drug coverage and other changes to Medicare would cost $534 billion in the next decade, one-third more than the budget estimate lawmakers relied on when they adopted the law.In part, the Democrats' aggressive tactics are election-year jockeying, in which they are trying to blunt Bush's ability to reap credit for pushing through major changes to the program, which provides health insurance through one of the country's largest and most popular entitlements.The administration and other Republicans are fighting back with equal vigor, trying to demonstrate the law's merits. Late this week, federal health officials announced that 106 companies and organizations had applied to sell Medicare patients discount cards, a temporary program starting this spring that is intended to allow older patients to obtain lower medicine prices before the federal drug subsidies begin in 2006.Yesterday, Sens. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), who led the request for the GAO inquiry, said the television ads and brochures -- to be mailed to everyone on Medicare later this month -- are misleading and constitute an inappropriate use of taxpayers' money to enhance Bush's reelection efforts. Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.), the front-running Democratic presidential candidate, was part of the group that asked for the GAO investigation.Kevin Keane, HHS's assistant secretary for public affairs, said: "It's unfortunate that people who voted against the law are trying to undermine efforts to educate seniors." Keane said the law requires the agency to educate the public about the program's changes. "The GAO is going to be very hard-pressed to find anything problematic," he said.M.http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A20165-2004Feb6?language=printer