AST HARTFORD, Conn. - Al Gore blamed pharmaceutical companies yesterday for profits that are ''way out of line,'' and he plugged his own drug-payment plan with assists from President Clinton at the White House and from a senior citizen at a drugstore appearance.
Gore, the Democrats' presumptive presidential nominee, put Republican rival George W. Bush and the drug companies at the center of his argument for expanding Medicare coverage to include prescription drugs. Profits are good for encouraging investors, Gore said, but drug companies are ''going far beyond that.''
''They're going to the point that the margins are way out of line with what most other industries and most other lines of business believe is normal and adequate,'' he said. ''They're using the market power to dictate prices that are way above what competition would set them at.''
Gore and Shirley Kindle, 65, of Ansonia, spoke to a small assembly in the bingo room of South End Senior Center.
Kindle, who had already bought her April supply of medications, accompanied Gore earlier to Pelton's family drugstore for what he called ''an illustration'' for invited news cameras: pharmacist Hal Schoen lining up the woman's 12 prescriptions and ringing up the total of $506.34.
''Which is more than I get from Social Security,'' Kindle said.
The woman, who said later she never shops at the photogenic Pelton's, told Gore her husband makes a little too much money for her to qualify for a state prescription-drug program.
''She was advised if they got divorced she'd be eligible for some low-income assistance, but she said after 35 years she's really not ready to give him up,'' Gore chimed in.
Campaign spokesman Chris Lehane said later that the Kindles' monthly income of $1,800 also would make them ineligible for aid under a House Republican plan.
Gore has proposed adding a Medicare prescription drug benefit and letting uninsured Americans 55 to 65 buy into Medicare coverage. His drug plan would offer free coverage for low-income recipients, catastrophic coverage for all, and an optional cost-sharing benefit for others with premiums of $44 a month when phased in.
By design, Gore's appearances yesterday coincided with the release of an advocacy group's findings that prices for drugs most commonly used by senior citizens jumped higher than the rate of inflation last year.
At the White House, Clinton and congressional Democrats cited the Families USA study as proof that people need help.
Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert said Clinton's comments indicated ''he is clearly misinformed about our fair and responsible plan that both strengthens Medicare and provides prescription drug coverage.''
