PRESCRIPTION-CARD PLAN WOULD BE A FIRST STEP

President Bush is proposing a plan to help senior citizens with the cost of prescription drugs.

Describing a "straightforward, non-bureaucratic" proposal, the president urged Congress to shelve its political differences and take the steps necessary to bring Medicare up to date while allowing him to roll out, by January, his plan.

Medicare traditionally doesn't pay for prescription drugs. Under the president's plan -- which doesn't require congressional approval -- Medicare would endorse and promote several privately administered prescription-drug discount cards that offer holders savings on their purchases.

The new cards would be similar to those now offered by pharmaceutical companies.

The cards would be free or at most, cost $25.

And the cards would save Medicare recipients as much as 25 percent in typical pharmacy purchases, or as much as 50 percent for mail-order drugs.

Bush stressed that his drug plan is only a first step toward broader reform that would expand Medicare coverage, improve services, bolster Medicare financing and give seniors more control over the type of coverage they receive.

Some informative Web sites include www.allhealth.org and www.nacds.org.

One staple of the health care debate -- especially concerning seniors -- is outrageous demagoguery, especially from certain quarters in the Congress.

Here's hoping some sanity prevails as the debate goes forward.