ADVISORY

FROM THE COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS
Subcommittee on Health

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Contact: (202) 225-3943
May 4, 2000
No. HL-14

Thomas Announces Hearing on
the Administration's Prescription Drug Proposal

Congressman Bill Thomas (R-CA), Chairman, Subcommittee on Health of the Committee on Ways and Means, today announced that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the Clinton Administration's prescription drug proposal. The hearing will take place on Thursday, May 11, 2000, in the main Committee hearing room, 1100 Longworth House Office Building, beginning at 9:30 a.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 representatives from the Administration, the Congressional Budget Office, as well as other interested parties knowledgeable on the structure and financing of a Medicare prescription drug benefit. 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:

Although Medicare currently offers a range of health care benefits, it differs significantly from other Federal health care programs and private sector health insurance in that it does not generally offer its enrollees coverage for outpatient prescription drugs. This is significant given that, on average, seniors currently spend in excess of $600 annually on prescription drugs. However, in the absence of Medicare prescription drug coverage, beneficiaries have come to rely upon several other sources of prescription drug benefits, such as employer-sponsored retiree health insurance, Medicaid or other State-sponsored health programs, and managed care plans offered through the Medicare+Choice program. In total, recent data indicates that approximately two-thirds of beneficiaries have coverage through these alternate sources, thus leaving more that 10 million beneficiaries without coverage.

In February, the Administration presented a proposal in its budget to provide for a Medicare prescription drug benefit. Seniors would pay a monthly premium to enroll in a new Part D program, in which beneficiaries and the Federal Government would split prescription drug costs up to a certain amount. This new program, administered by the Federal Government, would be accompanied by a proposed budgetary reserve fund for catastrophic drug expenses starting in 2006, allocated only after Congress and the Administration agree on a structure to provide for these costs.

In announcing the hearing, Chairman Thomas stated: "The purpose of this hearing is to examine the President's proposal for providing prescription drug coverage for Medicare beneficiaries. Now that the President's plan has been put into legislative form and analyzed by the Congressional Budget Office, the Subcommittee can better understand the probable implications of the President's approach to this vexing problem."

FOCUS OF THE HEARING:

The hearing will examine the Administration's proposal to provide access to prescription drugs for Medicare beneficiaries and how it will affect the financing of Medicare and its implications for beneficiary care.

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, Thursday, May 25, 2000, to A.L. Singleton, 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.