WASHINGTON, June 28: The US Senate and House of Representatives approved landmark Medicare drug bills on Friday that would give older Americans long-awaited help in paying for their prescription medicines.

Reconciling the two bills, which differ in ideology and detail, may prove more contentious than moving the reforms of the 38-year-old government health care program through the two Republican-controlled chambers.

But with President George W. Bush urging them to work quickly so he can sign the bill into law and end years of political warfare and voter impatience over Medicare, legislators are likely to eventually agree on a $400 billion 10-year drug benefit.

We are going to spend whatever time it takes to marry those two policies in a way that really will, really will, give health care security to seniors in a sustainable way long term, said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican who has made health care one of his main issues.

Bush applauded the votes taken in the early hours on Friday and vowed to work with lawmakers as the two chambers hammer out their differences, which center mainly on the size of the private sector’s role.

Seniors have waited too long for more choices and benefits, including prescription drug coverage, Bush said in a statement.

The Senate passed its legislation on a lopsided 76-21 vote, a sharp contrast to the years of impasse over the program that provides health care for all Americans age 65 and over. But some of those who voted for it did so with trepidation.

The House had a more partisan bill, relying far more on introducing private market competition to Medicare. It passed by a single vote, 216-215 after House leaders extended the customary 15-minute vote for about an hour to eke out the victory.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican who along with Bush had been wooing conservatives, acknowledged it was tough rounding up the votes.

We did some things to get our bill passed, they did some things in the Senate to get their bill passed, that’s how these two bodies work, he told reporters. I think the intent is to give senior citizens a good package.

Republican leaders won the last vote by promising Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, a Missouri Republican, that the House would consider a measure allowing the reimportation of US-approved drugs from other countries, he said.

Brand name drugs generally cost more in the United States than in other countries.—Reuters