The 2nd HPD report - Health Policy Monitor

coverage only to seniors enrolled in private managed-care plans,
drew harsh criticism from Republicans and Democrats alike. In
response, the proposal was revised to provide catastrophic coverage
under traditional Medicare.
As the bill moved through Congress, the president, congressional
Democrats and Republicans, advocacy groups, health policy
experts and academics and various lobbyists participated in the
debate and staked out their positions. In the end, perhaps because
so many stakeholders were involved, Commonwealth Fund
President Karen Davis commented, “Despite [the] Medicare bill’s
passage, Congress’ work [remains] unfinished.”
Sources and further reading:
Boccuti, Christine, and Marilyn Moon. “Comparing Medicare
and Private Insurers: Growth rates in spending over
Three Decades.” Health Affairs 22(2) 2003, 230–237.
Bush, George W. “21st Century Medicare: More Choices—
Better Benefits: A Framework To Modernize and Improve
Medicare.” Address to the American Medical Association.
March 3, 2003.
Cubanski, Juliette, and Janet Klein. “A Medicare Prescription
Drug Benefit: Focusing on Coverage and Cost.” The
Commonwealth Fund, Issue Brief #538, April 2002.
Davis, Karen. “Despite Medicare Bill’s Passage, Congress’s
Work Unfinished.” The Commonwealth Fund, November
26, 2003.
Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. “Prescription Drug
Coverage for Medicare Beneficiaries: A Side-by-Side Comparison
of S.1 and H.R. 1, and the Conference Agreement.”
November 26, 2003.
Moon, Marilyn. “Medicare Prescription Drug Legislation:
How Would It Affect Beneficiaries?” The Commonwealth
Fund, Policy Brief #678, October 2003.
“Bush Unveils Medicare Drug Proposal.” www.msnbc.
com, March 5, 2003.
Pear, Robert. “Plans Improve Federal Workers’ Drug Benefits.”
New York Times, July 8, 2003.
47
“Despite Medicare
bill’s passage,
Congress’ work
unfinished”