Congress Exempts Itself From Rx Bill

July 10, 2003
In one of the first actions after the July 4 recess, the House adopted legislation (H.R.2631) to ensure that members of Congress keep their current prescription drug benefits, which are much more generous that those provided in the new Medicare bills.

The bill also covers 270,000 federal retirees.

The most popular plan now provided to federal retirees enrolled in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program covers 80 percent of total drug costs. Under the recently adopted Medicare plans, only 49 percent of drug costs would be paid in the Senate version and 55 percent in the House version.