WASHINGTON -- Political strategists say President George W. Bush may give his re-election bid a booster shot when he signs the Medicare prescription drug bill into law.

Overview: Medicare Overhaul Full Text: Medicare Modernization Act Of 2003 More Information: Medicare.gov Fact Sheet: Social Security Administration Survey: Sign Up For Drug Benefit?

A University of California-San Diego political science professor says the bill is something Bush can "brag about."

The expert says signing the bill will take Medicare "off the agenda" and could inoculate Bush to charges that Republicans ignore health issues of seniors.

And former Republican Sen. Alan Simpson says the handful of House and Senate Democrats who voted for the bill make it "tough for the Democrats to lash out at Bush."

But the U.C. political scientist says seniors may not like some of the changes coming to Medicare.

He says seniors may not like efforts to push them into HMOs or the rising premiums and deductibles.

Sweeping Medicare Bill Passes Senate

Earlier Tuesday, the Senate passed a compromise Medicare bill that makes sweeping changes in the 38-year-old program. The vote was 54-44.

The bill now heads to Bush, who had made the overhaul one of his top priorities.

The plan would dramatically change the federal health care system for seniors. The bill adds a prescription-drug entitlement that would be available to 40 million older and disabled Americans. It also creates a limited program of direct competition between traditional Medicare and private plans.

The Medicare bill has been heavily pushed by the White House and narrowly survived a weekend vote in the House. In the Senate, the package cleared several procedural votes Monday.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said the bill will allow seniors more access to preventive care for heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease and a host of other ailments.

Bush hails the Senate's passage. Speaking at a Las Vegas hospital Tuesday, he said Medicare will now be able to catch up with the changes taking place in medicine.

He said under the system that existed until now, the government would pay for ulcer surgery costing $28,000 but wouldn't pay for $500 worth of medicine that could have prevented the surgery to begin with.

Bush said the changes that he'll sign into law will strengthen and modernize the Medicare system and give "high quality care" to the nation's seniors.

Under the legislation, the prescription drug benefit doesn't begin until 2006. At that time, all Medicare beneficiaries will have access to the prescription drug benefit -- and some will save significantly.

For example, seniors currently without drug coverage and monthly drug spending of $800 would see their spending cut by 61 percent, or $5,868 a year. Seniors who spend $400 a month would save 50 percent, or $2,404 a year, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

In the meantime, seniors will be eligible to purchase a Medicare-backed discount drug card that will offer an estimated 15 to 25 percent savings. Low-income seniors would get an additional $600 credit on this card.

Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein said she supported the bill even though it sometimes wasn't easy to do so. She said the bill contains items that seniors in her home state of California have asked for -- especially the drug benefit. She said the benefit is needed because some low-income seniors have to choose between buying food or buying prescription drugs.

Opponents said final passage was a formality, since they lacked the votes to stop the measure. They have denounced the $400 billion measure as a windfall for drug companies and private insurers. Democrats worked hard to block it, but they failed by two votes Monday to block a final vote on the measure.

But even now, Democratic opponents of the Medicare bill are vowing to keep fighting it.

Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle said he didn't see many senior citizens in the Senate gallery during Tuesday's vote. Instead, he said he saw lobbyists for the drug and insurance industries, which he said are favored by the bill.

Daschle suggested that some seniors fear they may be forced into a private health plan under the measure. And he said seniors in his home state of South Dakota don't think the drug benefit is adequate. Daschle had called the bill a "bailout for the HMOs and insurance companies."

Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy said the measure threatens the traditional Medicare system. He's vowing that he and other opponents will continue to battle provisions of the bill in future elections and future sessions of Congress.

But Bush said it will improve the social program and lets political leaders "say to seniors 'we kept our promise.'"

Advocacy groups for the nation's seniors say the congressional passage of the bill is an important step forward.

Bill Novelli, the head of the AARP, said the bill isn't perfect -- but that's OK. He said the millions of seniors struggling with high prescription drug costs can't afford to wait for a perfect bill.

The National Council on Aging said the true test will be how much the measure helps those who need it most. The group said the next step is to make sure that people who are eligible for new benefits actually sign up for them.