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Medicare Drug Benefit Passes House, Senate
Aired June 27, 2003 - 13:12 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: They've been talking about it and promising it for years, and when it was time to vote there was drama on both sides of the House and the Senate, but each approved a limited prescription drug benefit as part of Medicare reform.
Congressional correspondent Jonathan Karl on Capitol Hill.
Jon -- explain it to us.
JONATHAN KARL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, there was high drama, especially on the House side of the Capitol last night, as the Congress approved this. The House of Representatives didn't get around to voting on this issue until 2:30 in the morning, and even at that late hour the Republicans did not have the votes they needed to pass the president's prescription drug plan.
And it was only after they convinced a handful of Republicans to switch their votes from no to yes that they finally got a one-vote margin. The final margin was 216 yes and, despite what you're seeing there, the final vote was 215 no, a one-vote margin in favor of the prescription drug bill.
There was also some drama over on the Senate side, a dispute over benefits for wealthy senior. It almost derailed it there as well, although it passed overwhelmingly.
Here's what is in both of these bills. They are different bills, but here's what they have in common. Both bills will provide a prescription drug benefit for a monthly premium of $35 a month to those on Medicare. They will also each have a deductible. On the House side, it's $250; on the Senate side, it's $275. Neither side pays for all prescription drug coverage, far from it. It will vary between 50 and 80 percent, depending on what they finally come up with when they get around to compromising on these two bills.
So, there are some significant differences beyond what's similar here. In many ways the differences are more important because now the two sides are going to need to come together, they're going to need to resolve the differences before they can send the bill to the president. Some of these are major philosophical questions. On the House side, there is much more done to allow private insurance companies to compete more directly with Medicare in providing not only health coverage, but also the prescription drug coverage.
Also, there is the question about wealthy seniors. In the House side there is a so-called "means test," which says that seniors making over $60,000 a year would pay more for their prescription drug coverage. The Senate almost included that, but it was deleted at the last minute. That's going to be a major point of contention when the two sides get together.
There's also the question of who would actually provide the coverage. Right now both bills provide -- say that private insurance companies will provide the prescription drug coverage, but a very significant change, the Senate says that if two companies are not there to provide that coverage and compete for that coverage that Medicare itself will directly provide the prescription drug coverage. That is not the case over in the House.
So, the Congress now goes -- at the end of the day today it will go on a recess for the Fourth of July week. When they come back, they will get right to work on trying to resolve these differences. But now people on both sides of the Capitol are saying that it will probably take until the fall to resolve these differences, if they are to be resolved. So, the president will, most people think, get a chance to sign this into law, but it's going to be a while -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: That's a lot to absorb. Jon Karl, thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired June 27, 2003 - 13:12 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: They've been talking about it and promising it for years, and when it was time to vote there was drama on both sides of the House and the Senate, but each approved a limited prescription drug benefit as part of Medicare reform.
Congressional correspondent Jonathan Karl on Capitol Hill.
Jon -- explain it to us.
JONATHAN KARL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, there was high drama, especially on the House side of the Capitol last night, as the Congress approved this. The House of Representatives didn't get around to voting on this issue until 2:30 in the morning, and even at that late hour the Republicans did not have the votes they needed to pass the president's prescription drug plan.
And it was only after they convinced a handful of Republicans to switch their votes from no to yes that they finally got a one-vote margin. The final margin was 216 yes and, despite what you're seeing there, the final vote was 215 no, a one-vote margin in favor of the prescription drug bill.
There was also some drama over on the Senate side, a dispute over benefits for wealthy senior. It almost derailed it there as well, although it passed overwhelmingly.
Here's what is in both of these bills. They are different bills, but here's what they have in common. Both bills will provide a prescription drug benefit for a monthly premium of $35 a month to those on Medicare. They will also each have a deductible. On the House side, it's $250; on the Senate side, it's $275. Neither side pays for all prescription drug coverage, far from it. It will vary between 50 and 80 percent, depending on what they finally come up with when they get around to compromising on these two bills.
So, there are some significant differences beyond what's similar here. In many ways the differences are more important because now the two sides are going to need to come together, they're going to need to resolve the differences before they can send the bill to the president. Some of these are major philosophical questions. On the House side, there is much more done to allow private insurance companies to compete more directly with Medicare in providing not only health coverage, but also the prescription drug coverage.
Also, there is the question about wealthy seniors. In the House side there is a so-called "means test," which says that seniors making over $60,000 a year would pay more for their prescription drug coverage. The Senate almost included that, but it was deleted at the last minute. That's going to be a major point of contention when the two sides get together.
There's also the question of who would actually provide the coverage. Right now both bills provide -- say that private insurance companies will provide the prescription drug coverage, but a very significant change, the Senate says that if two companies are not there to provide that coverage and compete for that coverage that Medicare itself will directly provide the prescription drug coverage. That is not the case over in the House.
So, the Congress now goes -- at the end of the day today it will go on a recess for the Fourth of July week. When they come back, they will get right to work on trying to resolve these differences. But now people on both sides of the Capitol are saying that it will probably take until the fall to resolve these differences, if they are to be resolved. So, the president will, most people think, get a chance to sign this into law, but it's going to be a while -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: That's a lot to absorb. Jon Karl, thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
