The final Medicare reform and prescription drug legislation cleared the
House (November 22 by a vote of 220-215) and the Senate (November 25 by a
vote of 54-44), and the President signed the bill into law on December 8.
The 680-page reform bill will add a long-sought prescription drug benefit,
place a greater reliance on private, managed care health plans to provide
Medicare benefits, make many changes to provider payments and regulatory
processes under fee-for-service (FFS) Medicare, and allow all Americans, not
just Medicare beneficiaries, to contribute to tax-free “Health Savings
Accounts.” These reforms, taken as a whole, constitute the largest reform of
the Medicare program since its inception in 1965 and will markedly change
how seniors and people with disabilities receive Medicare benefits.
The summary of all the major provisions of the final bill is available at
the NAAOP web site by going to the following link:
http://www.oandp.com/resources/organizations/naaop/120803.htm
