AKRON, Ohio (AP) – Democrat John Kerry said Saturday that a record increase in Medicare premiums for doctor visits was another failed promise from President Bush.

The Bush administration announced a day earlier that monthly premiums for a portion of the program for the elderly and disabled will rise $11.60 next year, to $78.20. The 17 percent increase is the largest in the program’s 40-year history.

Kerry pointed out Bush’s promise in his convention speech to make Medicare stronger. The speech and the increase are highlighted in a new Kerry campaign television ad to start running Tuesday in battleground states.

“On the day after saying he’d strengthen Medicare, Medicare premiums go up for senior citizens 17 percent,” Kerry told supporters at a rally in this electorally important state.

“Who are they going to send the bill to? Are they going to send the bill to Halliburton? Are they going to send the bill to Ken Lay and Enron?” he said.

“You bet they’re not,” Kerry said, answering his own question. “They’re going to send the bill to our senior citizens. They’re going to send the bill to all of you people.”

Kerry also blamed the Bush administration for driving up health care costs with its refusal to let Medicare negotiate lower-price drug purchases and its opposition to Americans buying cheaper medications in Canada.

Bush campaign Steve Schmidt said health care costs are high because Kerry and other Democrats have refused to curb medical malpractice lawsuits and limit monetary damages.

That opposition is “raising the cost of health care for Americans, and is forcing doctors like ob/gyns to leave their practice,” Schmidt said.

Bush also campaigned Saturday in Ohio, which has 20 of the 270 electoral votes needed to win the election. Bush who won the state in 2000, is vulnerable here on jobs. The state has lost more than 200,000 since he took office. No Republican has been elected president without winning Ohio.

At the rally, Kerry appealed to gun owners, saying he’s been a hunter “all my life.” He demonstrated his shooting skills later in Edinburg, where he shot four of 10 traps.

Kerry opened the final phase of the campaign Thursday with the Ohio swing, accompanied by retired Ohio Sen. John Glenn. The trip ends Saturday in Steubenville, several hours to the south. Kerry then heads to Pittsburgh for a day of rest Sunday at his wife’s estate.

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