ADVISORY
FROM THE COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS

SUBCOMMITTEE ON HEALTH

Johnson Announces Third Hearing in Series on
Medicare Reform: Laying the Groundwork for a Rx Drug Benefit

Congresswoman Nancy L. Johnson (R-CT), Chairman, Subcommittee on Health of the Committee on Ways and Means, today announced that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the addition of an outpatient prescription drug benefit to the Medicare program. The hearing will take place on Tuesday, March 27, 2001, in the main Committee hearing room, 1100 Longworth, beginning at 2:00 p.m.

In view of the limited time available to hear witnesses, oral testimony at this hearing will be from invited witnesses only. Witnesses will include beneficiaries as well as experts on prescription drug coverage patterns, elements of benefit design, and the costs of drug coverage. However, any individual or organization not scheduled for an oral appearance may submit a written statement for consideration by the Committee and for inclusion in the printed record of the hearing.

BACKGROUND:

This hearing will be the third in a series of Subcommittee hearings intended to lay the groundwork for the development of legislation to improve and strengthen the Medicare program - and the first to focus specifically on adding a much needed prescription drug benefit to the program. The first Subcommittee hearing, held on February 28^th, gave Members a general overview of the reform debate. Our second hearing, on March 15th, addressed the need to bring regulatory relief while still protecting the program from waste, fraud, and abuse. Subsequent hearings will continue to target various aspects of the Medicare program in need of improvement.

In announcing the hearing, Chairman Johnson stated: "Nobody would design a seniors health program today which does not fully integrate prescription drugs. Adding a prescription drug benefit to an improved and modernized Medicare program is one of the most important tasks this Congress must accomplish this year. It will not be easy - the issues we will confront are extremely complicated. But it must be done. Next week's hearing will help us get started."

FOCUS OF THE HEARING:

This hearing begins the Subcommittee's consideration of the many issues surrounding the development of an outpatient prescription drug benefit within the Medicare program. The first panel will outline existing patterns of prescription drug coverage and spending, and witnesses will help Members begin to identify the many design decisions that will have to be made in structuring a new benefit. The second panel will turn to current and future beneficiaries to hear directly from them what they would like to see in a new drug benefit.

DETAILS FOR SUBMISSION OF WRITTEN COMMENTS:

Any person or organization wishing to submit a written statement for the printed record of the hearing should submit six (6) single-spaced copies of their statement, along with an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect or MS Word format, with their name, address, and hearing date noted on a label, by the close of business, Tuesday, April 10, 2001, to Allison Giles, Chief of Staff, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, 1102 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515. If those filing written statements wish to have their statements distributed to the press and interested public at the hearing, they may deliver 200 additional copies for this purpose to the Subcommittee on Health office, room 1136 Longworth House Office Building, by close of business the day before the hearing.

FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS:

Each statement presented for printing to the Committee by a witness, any written statement or exhibit submitted for the printed record or any written comments in response to a request for written comments must conform to the guidelines listed below. Any statement or exhibit not in compliance with these guidelines will not be printed, but will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.

1. All statements and any accompanying exhibits for printing must be submitted on an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect or MS Word format, typed in single space and may not exceed a total of 10 pages including attachments. Witnesses are advised that the Committee will rely on electronic submissions for printing the official hearing record.

2. Copies of whole documents submitted as exhibit material will not be accepted for printing. Instead, exhibit material should be referenced and quoted or paraphrased. All exhibit material not meeting these specifications will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.

3. A witness appearing at a public hearing, or submitting a statement for the record of a public hearing, or submitting written comments in response to a published request for comments by the Committee, must include on his statement or submission a list of all clients, persons, or organizations on whose behalf the witness appears.

4. A supplemental sheet must accompany each statement listing the name, company, address, telephone and fax numbers where the witness or the designated representative may be reached. This supplemental sheet will not be included in the printed record.

The above restrictions and limitations apply only to material being submitted for printing. Statements and exhibits or supplementary material submitted solely for distribution to the Members, the press, and the public during the course of a public hearing may be submitted in other forms.

Note: All Committee advisories and news releases are available on the World Wide Web at "http://waysandmeans.house.gov".

The Committee seeks to make its facilities accessible to persons with disabilities. If you are in need of special accommodations, please call 202-225-1721 or 202-226-3411 TTD/TTY in advance of the event (four business days notice is requested). Questions with regard to special accommodation needs in general (including availability of Committee materials in alternative formats) may be directed to the Committee as noted above.