-- Health.   HHS Secretary Leavitt said today Congress should hold off on legislation waiving the penalty seniors must pay for late enrollment in the Medicare drug program, while Republicans in both chambers pressed such bills. Leavitt said Congress should wait until it can sift through information about how many seniors signed up for the benefit by Monday's deadline and how many seniors missed it. "My suggestion is to wait until we get final data and analyze it," he said today during an event praising the benefit with Republicans from both chambers. Still, some Republicans pressed ahead with legislation removing the penalty, which will require seniors who missed the deadline to pay higher premiums -- for life -- when they sign up during the next enrollment period, which begins in November.

House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chairwoman Nancy Johnson, R-Conn., joined the Republican Main Street Partnership to call for removing the penalty. Johnson said a delay is unnecessary and that removing the penalty now would assuage seniors worried about the prospects of higher premiums. "I don't want them to wait through the summer," she said.