Vote awaited on drug bill
Published 9:00 pm Friday, November 21, 2003
WASHINGTON — GOP vote counters reported progress in rounding up support as the House started debating the Medicare prescription drug bill about midnight (9 p.m. PST) Friday, with a vote on the bill expected early today.
Beginning next year, seniors would be able to purchase discount drug cards that the Bush administration estimates would yield savings of between 15 percent and 25 percent. The card program would expire in 2006, when beneficiaries would gain access to a prescription drug benefit for the first time.
The bill also encourages private insurance companies to establish new managed care plans for seniors, either in the form of preferred provider organizations or HMOs.
For the first time, the legislation would require seniors with annual incomes over $80,000 to pay higher premiums under Medicare Part B, which covers services outside the hospital. Also, it would establish new tax-preferred health accounts, open to individuals with high-deductible insurance policies.
Many Democrats argued that some of the conservative-backed elements of the bill were too dear a price to pay for the drug benefit, in particular a provision creating a limited experiment in direct competition between private plans and traditional Medicare beginning in 2010.
In other action in Congress Friday:
E-mail spam: Congress moved closer to its first-ever protections against e-mail spam, with a vote likely early today. A House compromise would outlaw the shadiest techniques used by many of the Internet’s most prolific e-mailers and would include penalties of up to five years in prison in some circumstances. The bills would prohibit senders of unsolicited commercial e-mail from disguising their identities by using false return addresses or misleading subject lines.
Energy: Senators blocked a congressional energy bill that would redirect the nation’s energy agenda toward more production of oil, gas, coal and corn-based ethanol. The bill still could be voted on next week. Critics said the bill would provide too many favors to industry and hinder cleanup of water fouled by a gasoline additive.
Wildfires: Congress approved legislation aimed at reducing the risk of wildfires in national forests by speeding removal of overgrown brush and diseased trees. The Senate passed the bill by a voice vote, while the House approved it 286-140. The measure would limit appeals and environmental reviews so that forest-thinning can be completed within months rather than years.
Intelligence: Congress gave final approval to legislation to make it easier for FBI agents to demand financial records from casinos, car dealerships and other businesses for use in terrorism investigations.
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