Editorial: Prescription drug plan gets a boost

Friday, July 14, 2000 | 9:48 a.m.

The stalemate over a Medicare prescription drug plan hasn't ended, but progress has been made. Earlier this week an influential Republican senator agreed that the government, not insurers, should run this plan. The proposal offered by Sen. William Roth Jr., R-Del., chairman of the Finance Committee, still isn't as generous as that being touted by Democrats, but it is a significant departure from that being offered by most Republicans, who want to rely on insurers to offer the benefit instead.

But insurers themselves already have said they're not interested in what they see as a money-loser; Nevada's own efforts to set up an insurer-run program have stalled. Congress should focus its energy on passing legislation that finally would offer a government-run drug benefit for the elderly and disabled.

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