The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003
On December 8, 2003, President Bush signed into law the Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 (Pub. L. 108-173). This landmark legislation provides seniors and individuals with disabilities with a prescription drug benefit, more choices, and better benefits under Medicare. It produced the largest overhaul of Medicare in the public health program's 38-year history. The MMA was signed by President George W. Bush on December 8, 2003, after passing in Congress by a close margin. One month later, the ten-year cost estimate was boosted to $534 billion, up more than $100 billion over the figure presented by the Bush administration during Congressional debate. The inaccurate figure helped secure support from fiscally conservative Republicans. It was reported that an administration official, Thomas A. Scully, had concealed the higher estimate and threatened to fire Medicare Chief Actuary Richard Foster if he revealed it. By early 2005, the White House Budget had increased the 10-year estimate to $1.2 trillion.
The bill was debated and negotiated for nearly six years in Congress, and finally passed amid unusual circumstances. Several times in the legislative process the bill had appeared to have failed, but each time was saved when a couple of Congressmen and Senators switched positions on the bill. The bill was introduced in the House of Representatives early on June 25, 2003 as H.R. 1, sponsored by Speak Dennis Hastert. All that day and the next the bill was debated, and it was apparent that the bill would be very divisive. In June 27, a floor vote was taken. After the initial electronic vote, the count stood at 214 yeses an...
... middle of paper ...
...nies. But a similar measure was blocked in the Senate, due in part to the efforts of the drug lobby. The politicians make false promises to get elected while taking enormous amounts of campaign money from lobbyists and others that influence their votes in congress and then after they take care of their lobbyist friends they collect for themselves by taking jobs from the lobbyists making millions of dollars. We need to somehow get the laws changed that prevent politicians from being able to accept campaign money from lobbyists and other special interest groups and also prevent elected officials from going to jobs that lobbyists promise them. These special interest groups are ruining America in all areas of government. Any congressmen that accepts money, perks or job promises need to be put in jail for treason because they are selling out America to the highest bidder.
by the people trying to pass this bill. But how did the bill become a
The procedure for approving a bill and making it a law involves many steps. The following description is a short summary from “How Our Laws are Made”, an in depth description of the legislative process that can found on the website of the Library of Congress. After a bill is drafted, a member...
(II) The enacting of Medicare Part D in 2006 only helped to fuel America’s hunger for prescription medication. In 2003, President George W. Bush announced and signed the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act (also known as the Medicare Modernization Act, or MMA) on December 8th. The roughly $400 billion dollar measure was marketed to the American public as something that will provide care for the millions of senior citizens who, at the time, were struggling to afford prescription medication. This was the largest development of Medicare since 1965, which is when the program was initially created, and gave hope to those wishing for positive medical reform. According to title XI of the “Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003”, the most significant change will be the affordability of prescription drugs by implementing the importation of drugs from Canada, along with necessary safety measures, in order to lessen the cost (United States Congress, 832). For those who were in retirement homes and lacked a steady income, the affordability of drugs was often a deciding factor in the decision to seek medical attention and the idea that those individuals ceased to live simply because they lacked the funds tugged at the heartstrings of many Americans.
Time 21 Nov. 1955:21. “No True Bill.” Newsweek 21 Nov 1955:34. “No Remedy in Law.” New Republican 21 Nov 1955:5.
(1956 ). The. Congressional Record (pp. 1). 4459 - 4460 ). Washington, D.C.:
Once one state passes a law on drug testing it sends a message to other states and makes sense for other states to pass the same law. This is what our government wants, about half of the states are considering similar measures.... ... middle of paper ... ... Now its up to government officials to make the correct decision and forget about drug testing welfare recipients. Works Cited Carpenter, Rachel.
Canada is at a crossroads today. The number of older Canadians is increasing dramatically as the baby boomers age. All across the country, waiting lists keep growing and many patients cannot find a family doctor. Governments have huge deficits and hard pressed for additional funds. Critics argue that urgent action is needed and that by encouraging people to pay will lessen wait times. However, in reality Canadians would be worse off if they had to pay for some of their medical care themselves.
Of course, the status quo of vote seeking politicians and conservative policy makers has put up a strong resistance to this "new" reform lobby. The reasons for the resistance to the changes in drug policies are multiple and complex. The issues of marijuana’s possible negative effects, its use as a medical remedy, the criminality of its distribution and usage, and the disparity in the enforcement of current drug laws have all been brought to a head and must be addressed in the near future. It is apparent that it would be irresponsible and wrong for the government to not evaluate it’s current general drug policies and perhaps most importantly, their marijuana policy. With the facts of racial disparity in punishment, detrimental effects, fiscal strain and most importantly, the history of the drug, the government most certainly must come to the conclusion that they must, at the very least, decriminalize marijuana use and quite probably fully legalize it.
The Judiciary Branch of the United States government is responsible for interpreting the law. Those involved with this branch determine the meaning of the laws and decide what to do with those who break them. Because of a drug movement that took place through the 1980s, the courts have severely punished those who break laws associated to drugs; Congress is now trying to step in to change the way the Judiciary Branch is forced to punish such criminals. Congress has been busy the past couple of years evaluating the proper sentencing of those convicted of drug crimes. Many men and women of Congress are joining forces in an attempt to come up with a solution to propose as an amendment. Our elected leaders believe the need for the reform of drug crimes is due because of the number of cases and number of years those convicted are spending in prisons. Because of the drug wars that took place in the United States, the minimum sentence has been set so high today. Drug reform is needed in the United States, and those convicted of drug crimes with improper sentences need to have their sentence reduced. 1
Changes in the Medicare program were an essential part of the budget agreement that led to the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. Without the $191.5 billion in net spending reductions over the next five years, a balanced budget would not have been achieved.
Health insurance, too many American citizens, is not an option. However, some citizens find it unnecessary. Working in the health care field, I witness the effects of uninsured patients on medical offices. Too often, I see a “self-pay” patient receive care from their doctor and then fail to pay for it. Altogether, their refusal to pay leaves the office at a loss of money and calls for patients to pay extra in covering for the cost of the care the uninsured patient received. One office visit does not seem like too big of an expense, but multiple patients failing to pay for the care they receive adds up. Imagine the hospital bills that patients fail to pay; health services in a hospital are double, sometimes triple, in price at a hospital. It is unfair that paying patients are responsible for covering these unpaid services. Luckily, the Affordable Care Act was passed on March 23, 2010, otherwise known as Obamacare. Obamacare is necessary in America because it calls for all citizens to be health insured, no worrying about pre-existing conditions, and free benefits for men and women’s health.
... decided that it is a valid and necessary solution to our countries drug problem. By implementing such a program the American population can use its money and resources to combat the problem through the legal system. Legalization will decrease violent crime associated with drug dealers, it will decrease the number of users and will lower the wasteful cost which is connected with the current system. Such legalization will not destroy our youth in any way and will only be accessible to adults in the country. If we continue with our current system we will never solve the problem. Drug dealers and addicts will crown our prisons and plague our streets.
The two major components of Medicare, the Hospital Insurance Program (Part A of Medicare) and the supplementary Medical Insurance program (Part B) may be exhausted by the year 2025, another sad fact of the Medicare situation at hand (“Medicare’s Future”). The burden brought about by the unfair dealings of HMO’s is having an adverse affect on the Medicare system. With the incredibly large burden brought about by the large amount of patients that Medicare is handed, it is becoming increasingly difficult to fund the system in the way that is necessary for it to function effectively. Most elderly people over the age of 65 are eligible for Medicare, but for a quite disturbing reason they are not able to reap the benefits of the taxes they have paid. Medicare is a national health plan covering 40 mi...
Abramsky then goes on to discuss in the article how liberal politicians, Betty Yee and Tom Ammiano, are pushing for a bill to change the drug laws and legalize marijuana. Yee wants to excise “fees on business owners applying for marijuana licenses, impose an excise tax on sellers and charge buyers a sales tax” and if that is done the right way, she believes that the state could gain “about $1.3 billion a year” Timothy Lynch, writing in the conservative magazine the National Review, writes about how the drug war has not made very much progress and has essentially failed. Lynch writes about how voters in California, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Alaska, and Maine that have rejected ideas to improve the war on drugs and instead they “approved initiatives calling for the legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes” (40). Lynch also writes that “the supply of drugs has not been hampered in any serious way by the war on drugs” (41).
“Medicare and the New Health Care Law — What it Means for You.” (2010). Medicare Publications, http://www.medicare.gov/Publications/Pubs/pdf/11467.pdf