Side by side comparison of Medicare Rx bills

As Congress continues to debate a Medicare prescription drug proposal, the public, media and policymakers are looking at the details of each bill and how current and future Medicare beneficiaries will be affected. A new resource from the Kaiser Family Foundation provides useful information in assessing the potential effects of the House and Senate bills.

Prescription Drug Coverage for Medicare Beneficiaries: A Side-by-Side Comparison of Selected Proposals, is a comparison of the House and Senate proposals and was prepared by Health Policy Alternatives for the Foundation. The outline of the two bills includes a comparison of premiums, deductibles and cost-sharing, the role of private health plans, payments to drug plan sponsors, and treatment of retiree health drug coverage. We will be updating this side-by-side in the near future to reflect key developments in this debate.

The side-by-side report is available online at

http://www.kff.org/content/2003/6095.