Over 40 Policy, Citizen Groups Issue 'Final Warning' to Congress: Abandon 'Reckless' Medicare Drug Legislation

11/20/2003

From: John Berthoud or Pete Sepp of the National Taxpayers Union, 703-683-5700

WASHINGTON, Nov. 20 -- With fewer than 48 hours remaining before a likely vote on Medicare prescription drug legislation, a huge coalition of 42 groups issued a loud-and-clear call on Congress to reject the current bill "for the sake of future generations." The joint statement, sent to all lawmakers today, was organized by the 350,000-member National Taxpayers Union (NTU).

"The American people need a bill focused only on seniors who don't have coverage and who need help," the signatories stated. "They don't need this bill, which will ruin good coverage for millions and cause disastrous erosion in Medicare's already precarious long-term financial situation."

The massive alliance of taxpayer organizations, citizen groups, and think tanks supporting the NTU-led effort is intended to serve as a sharp rebuke to Congressional leaders and White House officials who claim that opposition to the bill has waned in recent weeks. In fact, the depth (combined membership in the millions), breadth (18 states plus the District of Columbia) and scope (virtually every major national-level taxpayer group) of the firestorm against the legislation have all been gathering strength. NTU was able to assemble the current coalition in just under two days.

Participants in the joint statement (in addition to NTU) include the American Conservative Union, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, Council for Citizens Against Government Waste, Citizens for a Sound Economy, the Coalition Against Higher Medicare Drug Costs, the Family Research Council, and Taxpayers for Common Sense, to name just a few.

The signatories cited several reasons for Congress to abandon the legislation. Even as "real reforms" once promised by lawmakers have "given way to fig leaves such as demonstration projects," the bill would "unconscionably add hundreds of billions (in) unfunded liabilities to (Medicare)" and "lead to millions of retirees losing benefits currently provided by their former employers."

The open letter is just one of many NTU projects that seek to highlight the fiscal dangers of the current proposal. In August, the group's research affiliate released a comprehensive study showing the disastrous burdens a drug benefit would have on Medicare's solvency, the economy as a whole, and taxable payrolls. For example, the study concluded that by 2026, Medicare "Part A"s projected insolvency date, the prescription drug benefit alone would cost $300 billion that single year.

"Congress is on the verge of making its most monumental fiscal mistake in a generation," said NTU President John Berthoud, who oversaw the joint statement. "No amount of rhetoric about 'getting the President a bill to sign' can hide the harsh reality that taxpayers will be burdened for years to come if Congress caves in to political expediency."

NTU is a non-partisan citizen group founded in 1969 to work for lower taxes, less wasteful spending, and entitlement reform. Note: The full text of the open letter, a list of signatories, and the NTU Foundation Study, Dangerous Interaction: How Mixing a Drug Benefit with Medicare Could Mean an Overdose of Federal Spending, are all available at http://www.ntu.org.