LEWISTON – Maine’s two members of the U.S. House of Representatives pitched legislation to fix what they called the biggest problem in the Medicare drug card program: It outlaws negotiating with the drug industry for lower prices.

Seniors in Maine and across the nation aren’t signing up for a Medicare card because the cards are confusing, but mostly because the savings aren’t there. The program is “a lousy piece of legislation. It’s a sham,” U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud, D-Maine, said Thursday.

Nationally, only about 10 percent of seniors on Medicare are signing up, said U.S. Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine, adding that it’s unlikely that President Bush will promote the program in the campaign. “Seniors don’t like it. … The bottom line is the Medicare law isn’t working. It’s never going to work.”

The existing Medicare drug program “will collapse under its own weight,” Allen predicted during a meeting with the Sun Journal editorial board.

Legislation that both Michaud and Allen are offering or backing in Congress would correct the problem by:

• Creating a single, national Medicare drug card offering discounts on all prescriptions. Instead of programs offered by private insurance companies, this card would be administered by Medicare.

• Forcing – not merely allowing – the federal government to negotiate lower prices for Medicare seniors, saving money for seniors and the government. Government savings would be used to improve drug coverage.

Mandating that the federal government negotiate lower prices for seniors is what’s missing from the current law, Allen said.

The law passed last year was not driven by consumers, but was instead designed to allow the insurance and pharmaceutical industries “to keep charging high prices,” Allen said. “What we’re trying to do is take the mistakes made in the Medicare reform law and turn that law back to a sensible, cost-effective law.”

Seniors continue to be unable to afford prescriptions, Michaud said, adding that it is not fair that the United States is the only industrialized country that does not negotiate drug prices, which means Americans pay among the highest prices in the world.

During a bus trip to Canada last spring, 18 Maine seniors bought six-month supplies of their prescriptions and saved a combined $19,000, Michaud said.

“It’s a crying shame that we’re the wealthiest country in the world, and our citizens have to go to Canada,” he said. “We ought to have a program here.”

However, both Michaud and Allen acknowledged Thursday that the chance of the price-cutting bills’ ever being debated on the floor – much less passing – are slim with the Republican-controlled House. “Quite frankly, (House Majority Leader) Tom DeLay has a good grip on House Republicans,” Michaud said.

With an election around the corner, if voters elect more Democrats, the majority could change. That would mean proposals to lower prices could pass next year, they said. “We’re hopeful,” Allen said.