Bush will discuss Medicare in K.C. area

? President Bush will visit suburban Liberty on Monday to talk about Medicare drug discount cards, the White House said.

Bush may be joined by Mark McClellan, administrator of the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services, during his visit to the Liberty Community Center. They may also visit a drugstore.

McClellan told a Senate committee earlier this week that more than 3 million people have signed up for the discount cards, which took effect June 1. About 2.4 million of them are members of health maintenance organizations enrolled automatically in their HMOs’ card programs.

The administration had projected that 7.3 million Medicare recipients would sign up for the discount cards, but sign up has been slower than expected and McClellan acknowledged that confusion persists. The projected figure includes 4.7 million people with incomes low enough to receive $600 both this year and next to help pay pharmacy bills.

The cards are intended as a temporary measure until prescription drug insurance under Medicare begins in 2006. They are designed to allow those with no prescription drug insurance to benefit from lower prices available through group purchasing.

Bush, who carried Missouri narrowly in 1990, has made frequent trips to the state since taking office, but this will be his first Kansas City-area stop this year. Vice President Dick Cheney was in town on June 1, and two days later presumptive Democratic nominee John Kerry held an airport rally, followed the next day by a speech at the Truman Library and Museum in suburban Independence.