A Drug-Benefit Breakthrough?

President Bush may be making headway on the thorny issue of prescription-drug benefits for seniors by playing against type. Rather than foisting his demands on Congress--as he did with the tax cut--Bush has left it to the House and Senate to come up with a plan. Sure enough, the leading Republican and Democrat on the pivotal Senate Finance Committee last week forged a compromise that is drawing a surprising amount of support. The measure, which for the first time gives outpatient-drug benefits to 40 million Medicare recipients, isn't everything Bush wanted. While it offers incentives--larger benefits to those who join private health plans--those inducements are smaller than the White House would like. And the plan may cost too much; this week the Congressional Budget Office will determine whether its price tag pushes Medicare's cost over the $400 billion allowed by Congress for reforms. Still, the proposal is winning encouragement from the White House as well as from Democratic veterans of the health-care debate like Senator Ted Kennedy, who now seems less likely than the White House had feared to lead a filibuster against a Bush-backed plan. "It's a long process, but this is a big step," says a top Senate aide. President Bush will hit the road this week to start a campaign for Medicare reform--but don't expect him to talk specifics. It's worked so far. --By Matthew Cooper and John Dickerson