A Prescription for a Modern Medicare Program

This year, Medicare introduced the prescription-drug benefit — the most significant change in Medicare coverage since the program's inception. As part of a broader strategy for ensuring that Medicare keeps pace with patients' needs, the addition of the drug benefit will help patients and doctors work together to alleviate symptoms and reduce the rate of complications of serious illness. We also expect the benefit to reduce the risk of related, catastrophic financial losses. The challenge is to ensure that these goals are achieved not only in 2006, but also for the foreseeable future.As the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid . . .