What the Chicago Trib says
Report clears Medicare ads
But GAO does cite 'omissions' in spots critics call partisan
By Kristina Herrndobler
Washington Bureau
March 11, 2004
WASHINGTON -- Congressional investigators cleared the Bush administration Wednesday of wrongdoing in producing advertisements about new Medicare prescription-drug benefits that critics claimed were a misuse of taxpayer dollars and misled the public about the benefits.
But the report by the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, concluded that the ads produced by the Department of Health and Human Services have "notable omissions and other weaknesses."
Democrats alleged that the ads were being used by the administration to promote President Bush and misrepresented the program to make it appear that the new Medicare benefits are more generous than they are. Nine members of Congress asked the GAO to review the ads to determine whether the spots violated federal laws prohibiting agencies from spending taxpayer money on "publicity or propaganda" without the approval of Congress.
But the report found that the advertisements, while flawed, "are not so partisan as to be unlawful."
The ads, which include mail, print and television advertising, are part of a $22 million media campaign by Health and Human Services to highlight changes resulting from the enactment of prescription-drug coverage
The television spots emphasize that the basic Medicare program has not changed, but that under reforms passed last year, new benefits are available to senior citizens, such as prescription-drug coverage. The ads include a toll-free number for seniors who have questions about their benefits.
The ads do not mention that seniors who enroll in the drug-discount card program created by the new law may be charged an annual fee, or that the savings from the discount cards may vary by the type of prescription drug. But the GAO found that those omissions were not enough to recommend that the ads be pulled.
