• Creates a voluntary prescription drug program, allowing Medicare recipients to obtain federally subsidized coverage for a substantial amount -- but not all -- of their drug costs, starting in 2006. Before 2006, Medicare patients could obtain drug discount cards provided by private companies.
• To qualify for the prescription drug benefit, patients would pay a premium averaging $35 a month, plus a $250 annual deductible. The government would then pay 75 percent of a person's drug costs, to as much as $2,250 a year. Coverage would end there unless someone's out-of-pocket costs exceed $3,600 a year. The government would pay 95 percent of these "catastrophic" drug costs. The bill provides extra subsidies to eliminate or reduce premiums and other costs faced by low-income beneficiaries.
• Provides subsidies to private plans to compete with traditional, fee-for-service Medicare system, and conduct an experiment under which the current Medicare program would face direct price competition with private health plans.
• Requires wealthier Medicare patients to pay more for doctors visits and other outpatient care.
• Creates new tax-preferred health savings accounts aimed at people of all ages with high-deductible insurance policies.

On November 20th, the House approved a bill (S. 1895) to temporarily reauthorize the Small Business Administration (SBA) and its programs through March 15, 2004. In September, the Senate approved a three-year reauthorization (S. 1375) of the SBA, however, the House has not yet acted on the bill. Sponsored by Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME), S. 1375 incorporates provisions of the Women's Small Business Improvement Act (S. 1154), Senator Snowe's bill to strengthen the SBA's Office of Women's Business Ownership, the National Women's Business Council, the Women's Business Centers Program, and the Interagency Committee on Women's Business Enterprise. S. 1375 also would direct federal agencies to develop marketing and outreach programs, as well as procurement training programs, on federal government contracting, in an effort to limit the practice of contract "bundling," which women small business owners say has hampered their ability to win federal government contracts.

On November 21st, the Senate approved, by unanimous consent, a bill (S. 1741) to provide a site for the National Women's History Museum in the District of Columbia. Sponsored by Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), S. 1741 would direct the General Services Administration to lease the vacant Old Post Office Annex on Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. to the National Women's History Museum, Inc. for the development of the National Women's History Museum. Currently, the National Women's History Museum is without a home.

Representatives Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and John Dingell (D-MI) convened a press conference on November 20, 2003, to release the most comprehensive governmental study to date on women's earnings. The study shows that the gap between men's and women's earnings has stubbornly persisted over the past two decades even when accounting for employment and demographic factors. The study, conducted by the General Accounting Office (GAO) in Washington, DC, examined 18 years of data on over 9,300 Americans. To learn more about the study please go to: http://www.house.gov/maloney/press/108th/20031120NewGlassCeiling.html.

Despite bipartisan Congressional support for an amendment to block overtime pay cuts sought by the White House, U.S. House and Senate leaders have removed the amendment from a conference appropriations bill. The amendment would have prohibited proposed rules to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) taking away overtime pay protections for approximately 8 million workers. The overtime pay guarantee was part of fiscal year 2004 Labor, Health and Human Services and Education appropriations bill, which along with other appropriations measures has been rolled into a $284 billion omnibus bill.

If there are issues of special interest to members, please alert me to them at kellawsd@willinet.net

Mary G Keller, legislative chair