Publisher's Synopsis
On 22 November 2003, the House of Representatives voted 220 to 215 to approve the conference report on H.R. 1, the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernisation Act of 2003. The Senate, on November 24th, voted 54 to 44 to approve the conference report. The bill was signed by the President in a ceremony on December 8th. The legislation adds a prescription drug benefit to Medicare and replaces the existing Medicare+Choice program with a new Medicare Advantage program that establishes managed care payments based on a system of bids and benchmarks. The bill also contains numerous provisions that would generally increase fee-for-service payments within Medicare's Part A and Part B program (also known as traditional Medicare), especially for rural health care providers; numerous regulatory and administrative practices will also be modified. This book discusses the fee-for-service (FFS) provisions of the legislation, those affecting Medicaid as well as the Medicare cost containment provisions. It compares the provisions in the bill as enacted with those in the Medicare reform bills that were originally passed by the Senate and the House. The Medicare FFS provisions in the bill are found primarily in Titles GGIII through VIII; some FFS provisions are included in Titles VIII through X as noted. The cost containment provisions are in Title VIII and the Medicaid and other provisions are in Title X.
