Clinton Confident on Health Care Reform : Medicine: He dismisses congressional concerns as ‘details’ that can be worked out. President also seeks the support of the elderly in a drugstore visit.

President Clinton shrugged off congressional qualms about his health care plan Thursday as he participated in another event designed to win support for his reforms among a crucial constituency--the nation’s elderly.

Key legislators have said in recent days that large parts of the President’s plan lack support on Capitol Hill. Chief among them is the provision creating the mandatory insurance purchasing cooperatives that the Administration calls health care alliances.

But Clinton dismissed those concerns as “details” Thursday--saying to reporters before a speech here that, if Congress agrees to his goal of guaranteeing health insurance for all Americans, “we’ll work out everything else.”

“This is just the beginning,” Clinton said, noting the long line of subcommittees, committees and floor debates through which the health plan must travel in the next several months. “I’m not worried.”

Faced with continued doubts in Congress, however, the White House has been trying to bolster support within major constituencies and among business groups. As part of that effort, the President and his health care reformists have scheduled two weeks of events designed to persuade the elderly that his plan would benefit them far more than its rivals would.

Last week, he traveled to Edison, N.J., to enlist the support of the powerful elderly lobby, the American Assn. of Retired Persons.

On Thursday, the President’s pitch focused on his plan to expand Medicare benefits to include prescription drugs.

Visiting the Greenville Drug Store here, the President met with several elderly customers, listening to the tales of their ailments and the high costs of the drugs they need.

“I’ve had people break down and cry” in the store because they cannot afford to buy the drugs their doctors say they need, pharmacist John Kiszkiel told Clinton. “I’ve had people here who told me they had to sell their homes” or chose between buying drugs and paying rent.

The Administration included prescription drug coverage as a sweetener that it hoped would energize elderly voters and their often-influential lobbyists on behalf of Clinton’s proposed reforms. In upcoming events, the President intends to emphasize a second element of his plan--a limited program of assistance for long-term, in-home nursing care--that also has considerable appeal for the elderly.

No interest group has been courted more assiduously by the White House than the elderly. And for good reason. The support of groups like the AARP is crucial to enactment of Clinton’s bill.

But despite the proposed coverage for long-term care and prescription drugs, two highly popular elements among the aged, the AARP has not endorsed the President’s agenda--much to the Administration’s annoyance.

Internal AARP polls continue to reveal confusion among its 33 million members over the particulars of health care reform. As a result, AARP leaders--who like much of the Clinton plan--are loath to get too far ahead of their rank and file.

Under Clinton’s plan, Medicare would become by far the nation’s largest purchaser of drugs, giving the government enormous leverage over drug prices. Because of that, the proposal has drawn opposition from drug manufacturers.

At the same time, however, the Clinton plan has been popular with drugstore owners, who hope that lower drug costs for the elderly will increase their sales. As he appeared here, Clinton was accompanied by representatives of two drugstore industry groups.

Some members of Congress, seeking to cut the cost of Clinton’s plan, have proposed removing the drug benefit for older Americans, but Clinton has strongly opposed that idea. Speaking to elderly customers at the drugstore here, Clinton said he realizes that Congress must trim costs, “but we must not take this drug benefit out.”

Spending more on drugs for the elderly “will actually save the health care system money” over the long run by avoiding other, more expensive treatments, Clinton insisted.

That view probably overstates the case. Two studies commissioned by the drugstore associations and touted by the White House calculated that the drug benefit would lead to considerable savings elsewhere in the Medicare program. But the new benefit would still cost more than it saves, the studies concluded. The new benefit would cost about $60 billion over five years and reduce other expenses by roughly $30 billion, the studies suggested.

Of the plans competing with Clinton’s, the so-called single-payer proposal sponsored by Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) also includes coverage for long-term care and prescription drugs. The bill written by Sen. John H. Chafee (R-R.I.) would cover prescription drugs but not long-term care. The proposal by Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) contains neither provision.

Times staff writer Edwin Chen contributed to this story.