Kerry Says Bush Hides Truth on Health Care

Sen. John F. Kerry accused the Bush administration today of “hiding the truth” about soaring health costs for the elderly, expanding his effort to undermine the president’s credibility.

The Democratic nominee for president said the administration of trying to conceal records that show a sharp rise in out-of-pocket Medicare costs for the elderly.

“This administration can’t tell you the truth about healthcare,” Kerry told dozens of seniors here at a campaign forum.

Joining the attack on Bush’s trustworthiness was Kerry’s running mate, Sen. John Edwards, who campaigned today in Oregon. He seized on a report that Bush’s proposals for a second term could cost the country $3 trillion - at least $1 trillion more than Kerry’s.

Edwards said the Republican president “cooks the books, takes care of his friends at the top, and sticks the working people with the bill.”

He accused Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney of “fiscal irresponsibility.”

“Dick Cheney and George Bush have been going all across this country, saying just about anything to save their jobs, except one very important thing - how they plan to pay for their ideas,” Edwards said. “What they don’t want people to know is that their plans cost $3 trillion.”

The Democratic ticket’s one-two punch was part of a newly vigorous push to recover from more than six months of Bush campaign attacks on Kerry’s credibility. Kerry pursued that effort Monday in two of the most fiercely contested swing states, Wisconsin and Ohio. Recent polls have found Bush pulling ahead of Kerry in both states.

At Kerry’s morning forum in the sun-drenched central atrium of a Milwaukee senior citizens center, the Massachusetts senator illustrated his latest attack on Bush by holding up sheets of white paper with obscure charts in tiny print.

He cited healthcare costs that the administration - for the first time - omitted this year from its annual Medicare report, but released to a congressman who requested them.

In a tone of mock disbelief, Kerry noted that missing figures on a recent spike in out-of-pocket Medicare costs covered an “election year.” “Oh my gosh, it’s empty,” he said. “A great big question mark. They hid it from you. They didn’t want you to know what the costs were.”

The figures, released to Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.), showed that Medicare expenses for the average 65-year-old were expected to rise from 14% of the person’s Social Security check in 2000 to 37% in 2006.

“Once again, this administration hides the truth from the American people,” Kerry said.

Mark McClellan, the director of Medicare, said he was “not going to get into any political charges.” But he described Kerry’s remarks as “misleading,” saying that savings from the new Medicare prescription drug benefit would offset the higher expenses.

Kerry also said the administration intentionally hid the full $534-billion cost of the Medicare prescription drug benefit approved last year by Congress, which had estimated the price at $395 billion. The administration “intimidated and bullied” an official to keep him from telling Congress the real price, Kerry said.

The administration denies those charges.

Kerry also renewed his accusations that Bush and his Republican allies in Congress favored insurance and pharmaceutical companies over consumers when they approved the new drug benefit. Kerry pointed to their refusal to let Americans buy lower-cost Canadian prescription drugs, as well as the prohibition on Medicare purchasing drugs in bulk to secure lower prices.

“When George Bush had an opportunity to lower the cost to the American taxpayer, oh no,” Kerry said. “He didn’t choose to help the taxpayer, he chose to help the drug companies.”

Kerry, who echoed those comments later at a campaign forum in Toledo, Ohio, also responded to a new Bush campaign television ad saying his healthcare plan would put “big government in charge, not you, not your doctor.”

“I have no new bureaucracy at all in my program,” he told the Milwaukee crowd. “You choose your doctor. You choose your plan.”

In response to Kerry’s remarks, Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt said the senator voted for higher taxes on Social Security benefits, opposed the Medicare prescription drug bill and voted for the formula that led to higher Medicare premiums.

“Voters,” he said, “will not trust a candidate whose political attacks are refuted by his own record.”

As for the Edwards allegation that Bush’s second-term agenda would cost $3 trillion, Schmidt disputed the Washington Post story on which it was based and said that figure was vastly inflated. He said Kerry’s proposals would cost far more than the president’s and “explode the federal deficit.”