Thursday, Oct. 12, 2000 | 11:34 a.m.
Sun City seniors heard U.S. Senate candidates John Ensign and Ed Bernstein address their concerns and blast each other's prescription drug plans.
The crowded Desert Vista Community Center audience Wednesday also heard Republican Ensign and Democrat Bernstein disagree on Social Security, abortion, tax-supported school vouchers and to a lesser degree inheritance tax relief. They also argued each would be better suited to fight proposed shipments of high-level nuclear waste to Nevada.
As has been true of most other high-profile Nevada races, Ensign and Bernstein have concentrated on seniors because they vote in high percentages.
Both Las Vegans favor expanded prescription drug benefits for seniors that involve discounts through bulk purchasing power.
Bernstein said he wants prescription drug coverage for all seniors under Medicare that is "affordable, available and accessible."
Ensign said he supports a voluntary plan that is "one, affordable, two, it is available immediately, three, that won't bankrupt the country, and four, that allows seniors to have the choice they need."
Seniors under his plan would pay only $35 in annual premiums and incur a maximum $1,200 a year in expenses, Ensign said. His plan also provides coverage for catastrophic care only to seniors who earn less than $100,000 annually.
"I don't think we should be subsidizing wealthy senior citizens on prescription drugs," Ensign said.
He argued that Bernstein supports a proposal from President Clinton that would compel seniors to accept only one plan, rather than the multiple options Ensign said he favors.
"With my opponent's plan, a senior could have a maximum out-of-pocket expense of up to $4,000, and it takes nine years to fully implement," Ensign said. "That's the president's plan."
Bernstein, arguing that his plan covers all seniors, countered that Ensign was trying to scare people.
"My plan is not the president's plan, and John you know that," Bernstein said. "My plan is $25 a month, period. If you can't afford it, it's free. John, you're plan doesn't even cover 70 percent of the seniors. Under your plan everybody has to pay $1,200. That's just the poorest of seniors. Middle-class seniors have to pay what, $2,500 under your plan?"
Bernstein also called for repeal of the 1987 Reimportation Act, which he said prevents pharmacists from importing foreign drugs and selling them at discounts.
"This would open up the free enterprise system and lower the cost of prescription drugs tomorrow by 30, 40, 60, maybe 80 percent in some cases," Bernstein said. "The other thing we need to do is allow our seniors to buy medicine for the same price that HMOs and insurance companies are buying them."
He said the only opponents of repealing the federal law are pharmaceutical companies and Ensign.
But Ensign said he would repeal the law if his concerns about the safety of foreign drugs were resolved. Ensign said his concern about the safety of foreign drugs was reaffirmed by a trip Bernstein made to Tijuana with local seniors.
"You mentioned you took a pharmacist down to Mexico with you to make sure those were safe drugs," Ensign said. "The pharmacist was quoted in the paper as saying that a lot of the drugs that you all bought down there, she couldn't determine without full testing in a laboratory whether or not those drugs were safe."
Another issue of interest to seniors is the federal inheritance tax. Ensign said he would repeal the tax. Bernstein said he would raise the tax exemption on estates to $5 million but retain the tax for wealthier families.
Both candidates want to correct Social Security benefit inequities affecting the so-called notch babies, who were born between 1917 and 1926.
But Bernstein disagreed sharply with Ensign's support of a proposal to allow young workers to invest a portion of their Social Security payments outside the trust fund. Bernstein expressed fear that Ensign's plan would drain the trust fund. But Ensign said he believes young workers will get a greater return on their money than under the current system.
The candidates, who will meet in the Nov. 7 general election, will debate again from 8 to 9 p.m. Sunday on KLVX Channel 10. They will also be debating from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 5, on KLAS Channel 8. They are also discussing a possible series of debates through rural Nevada in the weeks leading up to the election.
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