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Democrats threaten sue over medicare cost estimates Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)    http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/index.php?newsid=6639 http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/index.php?newsid=6639 Medicare costs fiasco Democrats threaten to sue 18 Mar 2004 Democrats are threatening to sue the Bush administration over Medicare cost estimates. The dispute over the new Medicare prescription drug law is hotting up in the USA. The Democrats are prepared to go to federal court to get the estimates that Medicare’s chief actuary prepared during the 2003 congressional debate over Medicare’s prescription drug bill, said Henry Waxman (D-California). Waxman wrote to Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson saying 'If you continue to refuse to provide these documents, I and my colleagues on the Government Reform Committee will initiate legal action.' The Administration said the release of the documents was going to happen anyway. It accused Waxman of political tactics. Why Medicare officials did not share their cost estimates with both Republicans and Democrats in 2003 is inexcusable, said Waxman. The estimates provided by the Congressional Budget Office to the lawmakers regarding the new Medicare legislation seem to be grossly underestimated. Waxman said 'I'm convinced there would be many Republicans who would not have voted for the bill had they known it was going to be far more expensive.' The new legislation only just got through in the House last year. The Medicare legislation added prescription drug benefits to the program for the first time. The discrepancy between the original and the present estimates are huge. The original estimate made by the Congressional Budget Office was $395 billion over ten years. The Bush Administration is now saying the whole cost is more likely to be $534 billion. If the private sector were to make such a miscalculation, whoever was responsible for that bungle would have hell to pay. Tom DeLay (R-Texas) said 'None of these numbers are right.' He does not believe the higher estimate would have changed the vote last year, even though the original estimate was 55% out. Democrats are talking about the Bush Administration’s involvement in all this. Did the Administration suppress its own estimates in order to keep the bill alive and provide Bush with a victory, they wonder. Richard Foster was threatened, he claims, with dismissal if he told the Congress about the higher estimates his office had come up with. Richard Foster is Medicare’s Chief Actuary. His boss at the time was Tom Scully. Scully resigned in December 2003 as Administrator of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Scully has turned down an interview about this. He says he did not threaten to dismiss Foster. Secretary Thompson has ordered the HHS Inspector General to carry out an investigation into Foster’s allegations (that he was threatened with dismissal). According to the Whitehouse spokesman, Scott McClellan, Bush supports the investigation. Waxman is also interested in Foster’s allegation. He has written to Tom Davis (R-Va). Tom Davis is Chairman of the House Government Reform Committee. Waxman asked him to hold a hearing to find out whether administration officials really had threatened to dismiss Foster. The Davis camp responded by saying that this is not necessary as the HHS Inspector General is already carrying out an investigation. Republicans are calling all this ‘election year politics’. Waxman has successfully sued on issues before. In 2002 he and the House Democrats sued the Secretary of Commerce for altered data from the 2000 census, and they were successful.

6 democratic candidates attack medicare measure { November 19 2003 } Aarp members burn cards Aarp spends 7m ad campaign supporting gop bill { November 19 2003 } Candidates take on aarp over drug bill Congressman bribed to pass medicare { November 27 2003 } Democrats threaten sue over medicare cost estimates Drug makers protect their turf { November 21 2003 } Drug plan faces enrollment challenge Drug prices for elderly climb 50 percent { July 1 2004 } FDA and states at odds over drugs { February 22 2004 } House probe medciare bribery allegation Medicare administrator withheld cost estimates for congress { September 8 2004 } Medicare costs kept secret Medicare drug benefit will cost more than reported { February 9 2005 } Medicare drug bill could be tough sell { November 17 2003 } Medicare drug cards produce confusion { July 29 2004 } Medicare drug cost estimate increases { January 30 2004 } Medicare reform bill is a disaser { November 28 2003 } Medicare secrecy inquiry is silenced { April 2 2004 } Medicare wont cover cancer drug costs { September 8 2004 } Medicares hidden bonanza { March 4 2004 } New drug benefits too complicated for seniors Nine dems back medicare bill Offered money to change vote { December 8 2003 } Some experts foresee revolt by elderly { November 26 2003 } Top democrats want us house probe on medicare vote US offers senior drug cards amid criticism { May 3 2004 } Files Listed: 27

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