SYBENE - Because he is a former politician himself, South Point resident Clem Smolenski said he knows when politicians are just blowing smoke.

However, he did not believe that U.S. Congressman Ted Strickland did this when he visited the Sybene Senior Center Wednesday.

"Engines on the railroad blow smoke; smart people use intelligent words," Smolenski said.

On the 38th anniversary of the day President Lyndon B. Johnson created the Medicare program, Strickland (D-Lucasville) from Ohio's 6th Congressional District visited the Sybene Senior Center to discuss the prescription drug program currently debated in Congress. This plan, Strickland said, would privatize Medicare, something that he opposes.

Both houses of Congress approved legislation earlier this year to add a prescription drug benefit to the program and provide for greater competition. Private companies would be allowed to set up health care plans to compete with traditional Medicare, part of the effort the Bush administration and many Congressional Republicans both say will give seniors more choices and improve the financial condition of the program.

However, Strickland said this program would be devastating to most seniors, especially ones in rural areas.

According to Strickland, seniors spending between $2,000 and slightly less than $5,000 would pay 100 percent of all prescription drug costs. Forty-eight percent of seniors would fall into this gap. The bill also does not offer drug coverage as part of the traditional Medicare system. A senior citizen would have to choose between a drug-only or a Medicare plus choice plan if it is available. If no plans are available, seniors will not have any prescription drug coverage.

The special problems for rural seniors, according to information from Strickland's office, is that private insurers are less likely to enter rural markets because of a limited amount of seniors. These private insurers would be more likely to withdraw after entering rural areas if profits do not meet expectations.

Strickland then presented his plan, which would include a $25 a month premium along with a $100 deductible. In this plan, he said beneficiaries pay 20 percent while Medicare would pay 80 percent. The out-of-pocket expense limit is $2,000 per beneficiary per year. Low-income seniors who could not afford even this would receive additional assistance, he said.

Another benefit of this plan, he said, would be that the 40 million people receiving Medicare benefits would be a part of a collective bargaining group. This group, he said, would have the power to buy in bulk, have clout and power and negotiate discounts. With 40 million people, this would be the biggest prescription drug buyer in the world, Strickland said.

However, language in the House bill could cause this not to be a reality.

"Here is something that will make your blood boil," Strickland said. "The bill passed by the House of Representatives forbids the Secretary of Health and Human Services from negotiating discounts. Why? Pharmaceutical companies wanted that in there."

The House-passed bill will privatize Medicare by 2010, Strickland said. The future of Medicare includes the elimination of a defined benefit. Seniors would instead receive a voucher for private plans that would be based on the "average" cost for prescription drugs.

The private plans, he said, would "cherry pick" the healthiest seniors, which would leave Medicare to pay for the most expensive care from the sickest. This would eventually drive up the cost of Medicare, and eventually lead to its ultimate destruction, he said.

The House bill was passed June 28 with a vote at 2:30 a.m., Strickland said. The bill was defeated at first, but after some "arm-twisting" two people changed their votes, making the bill pass by one vote, he said.

While Strickland was taking questions and comments from seniors, he invited Violete Fraser of South Point to the front of the room to ask hers.

"What are our tax dollars being used for?" she asked. "To get our sons killed? I'm fed up with Bush, and I'm fed up with Republicans."

Currently, her grandson is serving in a demilitarized zone of Korea and her son-in-law just returned home from Iraq. Frasure currently receives Medicare benefits, which she does not use very often - at this time. She finally received these benefits after not having insurance for a

year and a half. She lost this insurance through her husband's former employer five days before having a heart attack, which was caused by diabetes.

"This is the only way I have of paying if something bad happened," she said.