Bush signs Medicare bill into law

Bush says the law offers better choices

US President George W Bush has signed into law a bill on the funding of healthcare for America's 40 million retired and disabled citizens.

The bill, known as the Medicare Act, reduces the cost of prescription drugs for the elderly and is the fulfilment of an election pledge. Mr Bush said the law showed his intent to provide affordable healthcare.

Some critics of the law say it does not go far enough, others object to its controversial free market reforms.

Many Democrats are unhappy, saying that the bill is a Trojan horse for increasing privatisation and will leave the elderly at the mercy of insurers and drug companies.

Our nation has made a promise, a solemn promise to America's seniors - we have pledged to help our citizens find affordable medical care in the later years of life George W Bush

Some Republican critics say it will increase the financial burden on the government, which is already running a deficit of $370bn.

The success of the bill could have important implications for President Bush's re-election campaign in 2004.

The elderly are a very important and organised group in the US and are much more likely to come out and vote than the average citizen.

'Solemn promise'

The bill was bitterly debated in Congress, but finally passed by the Senate in late November.

The BBC's Justin Webb in Washington says Mr Bush signed the law with great fanfare.

US HEALTH CARE PLANS Fee-for-service: patient can choose any doctor, cost paid by Medicare on a fixed scale PPO (preferred provider organisation): patient chooses doctor from a list of participants in health insurance scheme who agree to be directly reimbursed HMO (health maintenance organisation): patient can only get care from specific doctors after authorisation from HMO insurance provider

"Our nation has made a promise, a solemn promise to America's seniors," he said.

"We have pledged to help our citizens find affordable medical care in the later years of life."

He added that it offered better choices and more control to recipients so that they could receive the healthcare that they deserved.

Unlike most industrialised countries, the US does not provide a government-funded national health service for its working population.

But it does help its 40 million retired and disabled citizens with doctors' fees and hospital bills, and with the new bill this will be extended to prescription drug charges.