Clinton to Seek Medicare ‘Abandonment’ Law

With more than 300,000 Medicare recipients facing loss of their HMO coverage, President Clinton plans to denounce the health plans today for “abandoning” the elderly and will order drafting of legislation to stop the exodus. Clinton will criticize HMOs for breaking “their commitment to Medicare beneficiaries,” according to a draft of the statement obtained by The Times. Medicare “should not--and will not--be held hostage to threats by HMOs to leave the program,” the statement says. Several HMOs have announced their withdrawal from some Medicare markets, including rural areas in Northern California, effective Jan. 1. So far, 300,000 people--about 5% of the 6.5 million beneficiaries enrolled in HMOs--stand to lose coverage. White House officials emphasized that while Clinton is concerned about the pullouts, it is hardly a major problem yet and his comments are meant to be a warning to managed-care firms to stop trying to extract higher payment rates from the government.