Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R. Tenn.) and Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R.Ill) have set a deadline of October 17 for House and Senate conferees to report out a compromise Medicare prescription drug bill. The Republican leadership would like the conference report, final legislative language, and Congressional Budget Office scoring to be complete by that date so that both houses of Congress can consider the legislation before adjourning for the year.

The schedule presented to Republican conferees calls for two weeks of negotiations and two weeks of legislative drafting. During week one, which ends September 26, the conferees are to consider issues concerning private health plans under the proposed Medicare Advantage program, including plan payment, network adequacy, region size, plan number, beneficiary incentives, and regional plan incentives. The second week, starting September 29, would be devoted to more controversial issues, including dual eligible/low income benefit protections, means testing, general benefit design, provider payments, the structure of the new agency, and issues involving the health security savings accounts proposed by the House. Staff members would begin drafting the week of October 6, as conferees discuss the approval process for generic drugs and drug reimportation issues.

Under the Republican plan, conferees would not begin discussing the two most controversial issues, the House premium support provision and the Senate’s requirement of a government fallback plan in areas where no private drug only plan is offered, until the final week, starting October 13.

Opposition to all or some of the House and Senate prescription drug bills, H.R. 1 and S. 1, respectively, comes from a variety of different entities. The Subcommittee on Human Rights & Wellness, House Committee on Government Reform, held a hearing on Wednesday, September 24, 2003, to discuss creating a targeted prescription drug benefit for low-income seniors (sic.) Subcommittee Chair Dan Burton (R. In.) complained that H.R. 1 is an "ill-conceived, open ended entitlement" that would be borne by taxpayers. He proposes giving low-income Medicare beneficiaries without other prescription drug coverage a special Medical Savings Account and discount drug card, with federal contributions varying based on income, so that individuals could use the card as a debit card to pay for drugs as needed. Burton also opposes the provision in both H.R. 1 and S.1 that precludes the Secretary of Health and Human Services from negotiating drug prices for Medicare. Hearing witnesses representing the American Enterprise Institute, the CATO Institute, the Progressive Policy Institute, and the Heritage Foundation also expressed their dissatisfaction with H.R. 1 and S. 1. However, they disagree with Congressman Burton and support the prohibition against the government negotiating drug prices.

© Center for Medicare Advocacy, Inc. 01/08/2010