Prometheus 6   

Compromise Seen as Harder to Find on Medicare Drugs
By ROBIN TONER and ROBERT PEAR

ASHINGTON, July 12 � Agreement in Congress on a final compromise bill to add prescription drugs to Medicare could be far more difficult to negotiate than it seemed just a few weeks ago, with both sides in the debate digging in for a fight over important provisions, lawmakers and strategists in both parties say.

For 40 million elderly and disabled Americans on Medicare, that means the long-promised drug benefits, which could cover one-third or more of a beneficiary's costs for prescriptions, are still a legislative work-in-progress, not a sure thing.

Differences between the Senate and the House bills have become more apparent in the two weeks since the competing versions of the legislation were adopted. Now conservative House Republicans and Senate Democrats are issuing ultimatums, threatening to oppose the final legislation if it does not address their concerns.

Congressional leaders are forming a conference committee in an effort to reach a consensus on the legislation. But the magnitude of the task has already delayed the expected completion of the work to September or later, from late July, as the Bush administration had hoped.

Administration officials say they remain optimistic about the Medicare legislation, a centerpiece of President Bush's domestic agenda and one he wants to deliver before the 2004 presidential election.