Senator Charles Grassley has helped craft a bipartisan plan to extend prescription drug coverage to America’s seniors through Medicare. Grassley says it’s taken two years of work to put the bill together. The President proposes prescription drug coverage only to those who enroll in H-M-Os, but Grassley’s plan doesn’t force that change.Grassley says the “bottom line is that senior citizens in every part of the country, whether it’s urban or rural, should have prescription drugs through traditional Medicare.” The Senate Finance Committee, which Grassley leads, will begin working on the legislation today and vote on it Thursday. Grassley predicts the plan will pass the Senate by the 4th of July. A different plan is making its way through the House.Grassley says working out the differences between the House and Senate will be difficult, but he says it is possible. The Senate bill would increase payments to doctors and hospitals in rural states like Iowa which treat Medicare patients.
