Chris Dodd: “I have spoken about the bill generally and expressed my optimism about it despite the serious shortcomings I have. It is…”

“I have spoken about the bill generally and expressed my optimism about it despite the serious shortcomings I have. It is a major step in the right direction. We can enhance that by adopting what Senator Rockefeller is offering us today: The ability to ensure that employers will continue to offer prescription drug coverage for their retirees. What we don't want to do, as we move forward with this program, is to supplant existing retiree programs. That would be a great setback for us. The bill, as presently crafted, does not count payments made by the retiree benefit plan that are out-of-pocket expenditures by the individual beneficiary. This will vastly increase the amount of money an employer will have to pay in order to act as an effective supplement to the Medicare drug benefit, a so-called wraparound to Medicare. In other words, this bill would actually discourage employers from playing even that reduced role in terms of prescription drugs. The Rockefeller amendment will address this problem so that employer contributions are counted toward an individual's out-of-pocket costs.”