Prescription Drug Plan — Republican Alternative. This bill (H.R. 4954) would subsidize private insurance companies for offering prescription drug policies to Medicare beneficiaries. Under this Republican plan, the cost would be $33 per month with a $250 annual deductible. Patients would pay 20 percent of costs from $251 to $1,000 and 50 percent from $1,001 to $2,000. Patients would pay all costs from $2,001 to $3,700, with anything above that covered 100% by the insurers. The estimated cost of this socialist-lite prescription plan for seniors is $350 billion over 10 years.
The House passed H.R. 4954 on June 28, 2002 by a vote of 221 to 208 (Roll Call 282). We have assigned pluses to the nays.
