WASHINGTON – President Bush signed a new prescription drug benefit into law Monday as part of historic Medicare changes that also will confront seniors with numerous, sometimes-difficult choices on their health care coverage.
The government will spend nearly $400 billion over the next 10 years to subsidize prescription drug coverage, which begins in January 2006. At the same time, the government will encourage insurance companies to offer private plans to millions of older Americans who now receive health care benefits under terms fixed by the federal government.
Democrats pledged to fight in the Republican-controlled Congress for changes in the law, principally for measures to bring down the price of prescription drugs.
Taiwan referendum criticized
The Bush administration on Monday strongly criticized a referendum planned by Taiwan that could be interpreted as a move toward independence from China. At the same time, the administration told Beijing the criticism of Taiwan should not be seen as a green light to consider using force against the island. China’s premier, Wen Jiabao, was having dinner Monday with Secretary of State Colin Powell and was meeting today at the White House with Bush.
Georgia: Testimony against chaplain
A Customs agent testified at Fort Benning on Monday he found “suspicious” documents related to national security in the backpack of a Muslim chaplain accused of mishandling classified documents from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Army Capt. James Yee, 35, who earlier served at Fort Lewis, is charged with disobeying an order by taking home classified material from the prison and improperly transporting it. He also faces charges of making a false statement, storing pornography on a government computer and adultery, a criminal offense under military law.
N.D.: Suspect said to have knife
A knife and blood matching a missing woman’s type were found in the car belonging to the man accused of kidnapping the University of North Dakota student, a source close to the investigation said Monday. Preliminary analysis of the blood matches DNA taken from Dru Sjodin’s toothbrush, the Star Tribune of Minneapolis reported on its Web site late Monday, citing two sources close to the investigation. Sjodin, 22, was last heard talking to her boyfriend on a cell phone on Nov. 22 after she left her job at the Grand Forks mall. Alfonso Rodriguez Jr., 50, has been charged with kidnapping Sjodin.
Maine: Hiking groups found safe
Three groups of hikers stranded in western Maine during the season’s first snowstorm, a blizzard that left more than 30 inches in its wake, were found safe and in good health Monday.
Virginia: Confession contradiction
Lee Boyd Malvo was the spotter – not the shooter – in all but one of last year’s sniper killings, Malvo told a psychologist, contradicting the confession he gave to police. Malvo blamed himself for the arrest of sniper mastermind John Allen Muhammad, and felt compelled to take the blame for the sniper rampage, psychologist Dewey Cornell testified Monday at Malvo’s trial in Chesapeake. Malvo is presenting an insanity defense to capital murder charges in the Oct. 14, 2002, slaying of FBI analyst Linda Franklin outside a Home Depot. The defense claims he was brainwashed by Muhammad and could no longer tell right from wrong.
Florida: Astronaut sets record
Astronaut Michael Foale set a U.S. record Monday for the most accumulated time in space: 231 days and counting, over six missions, NASA reported from Cape Canaveral.
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