Organized labor and most of its allies in Congress heartily dislike the sweeping new $400 billion Medicare bill passed by Congress on Nov. 25. Oddly enough, for entirely different reasons, the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal doesn't like it, either.

But the leadership of the powerful American Association of Retired People (AARP) supports it. So do 11 Democratic senators. So do President Bush and a majority of Republicans in Congress, whose support, given their record, should raise a red flag with working people.

What is clear in the days following the passage of the Medicare overhaul bill is that the structure of one of the nation's basic social safety nets has been changed forever. But whether it's a positive change that will improve the health and welfare of most older Americans may not be known for years. The early reviews coming from organized labor and its allies aren't good.

Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) led the fight against the bill. "In exchange for destroying Medicare, it offers senior citizens a paltry, inadequate drug benefit," he said. "The moment it is implemented, it will make nine million senior citizens, almost a quarter of all senior citizens, worse off than they are today."

The Medicare bill approved by Congress and signed by the president, which primarily affects prescription drug costs, will initially provide older Americans a 15 percent discount off the cost of their prescription drugs for 2004 and 2005.

The standard benefit for drugs begins in 2006. Seniors can choose to pay about $35 for a monthly premium for coverage with a $250 deductible. That coverage pays for 75 percent of prescription costs up to $2,250 per year. Then, coverage stops until out-of-pocket costs hit $3,600 per year. When prescription costs exceed $3,600, the federal government pays for 95 percent of expenses. Low-income seniors would get even more help.

And tucked away into the law is a decision to link the cost of the prescription drug program to increases in drug costs. Those costs can be passed along to consumers every year in the form of higher premiums.

The new law shifts responsibility for much of Medicare away from the federal government into the hands of private insurers. The bill also includes the creation of tax-preferred health savings accounts, open to individuals who purchase high-deductible health insurance policies. Beginning in 2010, the legislation would create a limited program of direct competition between traditional Medicare and private plans. Critics say privatizing would lead to "cherry picking" of relatively healthy seniors and higher premiums for sicker old people.

From far and near, opinions about the new Medicare plan abounded. Here is a sampling:

• AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney called it "a partisan proposal that, under the guise of creating the much-needed and long-promised prescription drug benefit, would reward the pharmaceutical companies and HMOs that are the political backers of the plan's sponsors."
• Pointing out the that rate of federal spending has increased 21 percent over the past two years - not including the $400 billion for Medicare - the Wall Street Journal said President Bush hasn't been willing to show "restraint" when it comes to federal spending bills. "Mr. Bush seems willing to sign just about anything," the Journal added.
• "If we don't do this at this time, it may be years" before another opportunity comes along, said Sen. Charles Grassley, (R-Iowa,) an architect of the bill. "There will never be total agreement," added Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) Grassley's partner on the issue.
• Said Michigan Sen. Carl Levin: "We are confronting in this bill a turning away from Medicare's noble purpose - to create an insurance pool of all seniors where the risks and financial burdens of all are shared, not for the profit of insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies, but for the common good. The legislation before us is a fundamental and ill-advised restructuring of Medicare under the guise of adding a prescription drug benefit to the program."
• A statement by AARP, which represents 35 million members, said "We should all take special pride in the fact that this bill helps those who need it the most - people with low incomes, as well as those with high drug costs. In addition, the bill will provide some additional relief to millions more in Medicare and also provide preventive care, chronic disease management and other measures to improve health care."

But thousands of AARP members have reportedly disassociated themselves from the group over its support of Medicare reform.

• Another group that represents older people, the Alliance for Retired Americans, came out against the new plan and urged its three million members to mobilize and agitate. "We need to let all of our union members know what happened, so they can make decisions in 2004 about whether they want the architect of this - Bush - to continue in office," spokeswoman Layne Windham said.