AARP already lobbying to expand drug aid

WASHINGTON, May 29 (UPI) -- The country's leading retiree group is reportedly trying to expand the Medicare prescription drug benefit, two years before it takes effect.

The AARP joined the Bush administration in lobbying for the bill, which has an estimated price tag of $534 billion.

Chief Executive Officer Bill Novelli told the Washington Times the AARP hopes to get more benefits for the elderly by changing the definition of "low-income." He also said that if drug prices remain high, the group will lobby to give the federal government the power to negotiate with pharmaceutical makers for lower prices for Medicare recipients.

Stuart Butler, vice president for domestic policy at the conservative Heritage Foundation, said that the unusual alliance between Republicans and the AARP to get prescription aid through has fallen apart because both sides had different agendas. He believes that Republicans regarded it as a first step in introducing free-market forces into the Medicare program, while the AARP viewed it as a beginning to complete government subsidy of prescription drugs for the elderly.