Editorial: Drug plan leads to a squabble

Thursday, June 22, 2000 | 9:26 a.m.

Republican Gov. Kenny Guinn and Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., have been in a partisan spat over how best to provide prescription drug benefits for recipients of Medicare, the government program that provides medical care for the elderly and disabled. The rift started after Berkley and four other Democratic House members sent a letter to their colleagues, describing Nevada's inability to set up a program that would let insurers offer prescription benefits for seniors, a plan that resembles a GOP proposal in Congress.

Berkley and the Democrats claimed in their letter that Nevada's implementation was "rumored to be scrapped for good" because only one of 800 insurance companies contacted sought to provide the coverage -- and even that lone insurer later was found to be ineligible. Guinn responded by accusing Berkley of spreading "false and misleading information" about his program, stressing that he was still pushing ahead. And while even Guinn's modest program faces obstacles, at least he is trying -- Congress' partisan gridlock over the past few years has blocked drug benefits from becoming a reality.

Still, Berkley was right to tell others in Congress about the difficulties Nevada has faced. It's relevant to ask whether insurance companies can do the job on their own, especially since a national HMO trade group already has said insurers would be unlikely to participate in a nationwide program unless the government assumed most of the financial risk. Meanwhile, four Democrats, including Nevada's Sen. Richard Bryan, and one Republican in the Senate have offered a plan that would guarantee drug coverage just as any other benefit currently is offered by the Medicare program. This sensible, straightforward approach is the kind Congress should embrace instead of allowing the issue to become muddied even further by partisan politics.