Being a doctor makes so much sense. Being a politician ...

The posturing has occurred; the political points made; now the compromising begins. Apparently, we do have a reasonable chance for Medicare drug benefit - Senators Scale Back Drug Proposal. Did we not really know this all along?

The compromise is a retreat from Democrats' longtime push for a comprehensive benefit that covers all senior citizens. But it also omits Republicans' push to have a plan that relies on private insurers. The compromise calls for a benefit administered through Medicare, according to one Senate Democratic aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The proposal would cost between $400 billion and $450 billion over 10 years and would cover about half of the 40 million senior citizens on Medicare, Kennedy said. That's substantially smaller than the $594 billion plan Democrats unsuccessfully brought to the House floor earlier this week. That plan, as well as a $370 billion proposal offered by a coalition of Republicans, a Democrat and the Senate's lone independent, failed to get the 60 votes necessary for passage.

We are probably getting to the right place. Those senior citizens who can afford the medications do not need our subsidies. The poor need our help. I wonder if the plan could actually save some money. How many preventable hospital admissions come from financially induced drug non-adherence? Whether that speculation makes the true amount smaller, a compromise plan seems the right thing. More this week.