An interview with Senator Rick Santorum:

"Republicans did the right thing for seniors"

The combative Republican argues Medicare must be run to preserve it for generations to come.

By David J. Foster

Staff Writer

Former U.S. Senator Harris Wofford hoped the grainy video would KO his scrappy opponent.

There stood boyish Rick Santorum, 36, telling a local audience that raising the age for Social Security benefits from 65 to 70 might be needed to rescue the system. Noting the increase in life-expectancy, he asked why anyone should receive checks for 25 years.

Santorum, Wofford believed, had touched the political third rail. He had called for changes to an elderly entitlement program. Worse, he did it in Pennsylvania, home to more seniors than any state but Florida.

Yet, on election day, it was Santorum in victory. "We fought back with information," Santorum said, "with three mailings to seniors, with television and radio. If seniors are presented all the information, they will listen, theywill figure it out. I know. I've experienced it."

In a state more comfortable with soft-spoken, moderate Republicanism (epitomized by Gov. Tom Ridge, the late Senator John Heinz, and Senator Arlen Specter), Santorum is a refreshing (or repellent, depending on your politics) anomaly.

A die-hard conservative, and one of the most pugnacious Revolutionaries of '94, Santorum dared play hardball in the courtly U.S. Senate, irritating flaming "moderates" like Maine's William Cohen, who during his retirement announcement lamented the demise of civility in Washington.

Santorum is unapologetic. "The Republicans did a politically courageous thing (tackling Medicare), some would say a politically stupid thing, but it was the right thing for seniors, the country, and the next generation." Their mistake: "We didn't present the Medicare debate the right way. Now we have to overcome a mind-set."

The argument Santorum made in that grainy video- that burgeoning senior entitlements must be tackled to control the exploding budget deficit- opened Republicans to accusations of Granny-bashing, charges, pundits caution, that could cost the GOP its congressional majorities.

Santorum questions this conventional wisdom. He believes Republicans will hang on to the legislative branch, and, even in the Northeast's senior-dominated Third Congressional District, continues calling for Medicare reforms. Last week, during an interview with the <Northeast News Gleaner>, Santorum attempted to cut through the clatter.

"I don't know anyone in Washington who is not supportive of programs to make retirement secure for people who worked all their lives and paid taxes," Santorum said. "There is universal support for all of those programs.

"The issue is how we are going to run those programs so they serve generations of seniors to come."

In 1965, seniors paid 50 percent of Part B premiums (which covers doctor bills and lab expenses). That's been reduced over time. "During the Medicare fight last year, we were battling to keep seniors' premiums at 31-and-a-half percent. We think that's a very good deal. The general public pays 68-and-a-half percent of that program."

And that's only for "those who can afford to pay it," he said. "If you are poor, Medicaid picks it up."

For 30 years, Medicare has "served this country well," Santorum added. But it "needs to be changed" as demographics change. "There isn't one company or individual who has had a health care plan that has not changed during this period. To suggest anyone who wants to change (Medicare) is gutting the program flies in the face of what is going on around us.

"Those who want to change it want to improve it to make it more efficient and make it last. We have to face it. The Medicare Trust Fund is in trouble."

Santorum was in the district to speak at the Greater Northeast Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce's 74th annual fall luncheon at Friends Hospital, Adams Ave. and Roosevelt Blvd.

There, in campaign mode, he warned: "We fixed Medicare seven times in the past. You know how? By raising taxes. If Bill Clinton and the Democrats take control of the congress that's all were going to get."

Speaking more candidly, Santorum predicted a re-elected Bill Clinton will form a commission that will make "recommendations almost identical to what the Republicans passed and he (Clinton) called `gutting' Medicare."

"I wish I could say Medicare could be saved by simply making it more efficient. It can't be," Santorum said. Future reforms, he added, will include a greater reliance on managed care). "I want seniors to have even greater choice, but that can only be done if people are encouraged to save" for medical expenses through IRA-like Medical Savings Accounts.

As for benefits: "They will not be cut," Santorum said. "It's an area where we would like to add some flexibility. We should be able to provide a better reflection of what people's needs and desires are, much like the general insurance market."

What is unnecessary, he said, is another tax increase.

"I want to remind seniors today that when they began paying the Medicare tax in 1966, they paid one-tenth of one percent on the first $2,000 they earned," Santorum said. "Now we pay four-and-a-half percent on every dollar we earn.

"Every senior retired today will get back two to three times more in health care benefits than they put into the system. People under 50 today will most likely not get back the money they put into the health care system."

Do seniors understand this? "Those who listen and get all the information do," Santorum said. And if they don't get all the information?

"I'm the (nation's) youngest senator and I represent the second oldest state. I may not have a long career in the Senate," he said.