March 17,2001

Grassley Announces Hearing on Medicare, Prescription Drugs


Hearing: “Prescription Drugs and Medicare Financing”

Date/time: Thursday, March 22, 2001, at 2:30 p.m.

Location: 215 Dirksen Senate Office Building

Description: Sen. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Committee on Finance, will convene a hearingto discuss the budgetary implications of a prescription drug benefit in light of newprescription drug spending numbers recently released by the Congressional BudgetOffice; the impact of prescription drug spending on the overall financial outlook ofMedicare, including discussion of the trust funds and general revenue spending,short- and long-term growth assumptions based on the Medicare trustees’ report, andissues such as new technologies and demographics; and to discuss how differentprescription drug design options may impact the cost of a drug benefit.

Witness List
A Panel Consisting of:
Dan L. Crippen, Director, Congressional Budget Office, Washington, D.C.

David M. Walker, Comptroller General, United States General Accounting Office, Washington, D.C.

A Panel Consisting of:
Rick Foster, Chief Actuary, Health Care Financing Administration, Baltimore, Md.

Tricia Neuman, Sc.D., Vice President, Kaiser Family Foundation, Washington, D.C.