PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Jul 20, 2006
Medicare Prescription Drug Lifeline Act of 2006 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a process under which an individual may terminate enrollment in the prescription drug plan or the Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug (MA-PD) Plan in which he or she is enrolled and enroll in any prescription drug plan or MA-PD Plan serving the area where the individual resides that provides some coverage of covered part D (Voluntary Prescription Drug Benefit Program) drugs after the individual has reached the initial coverage limit but not yet the annual out-of-pocket threshold.
Sets forth a special rule permitting applicable individuals to enroll in a prescription drug plan outside the region in which they reside.
Directs the Comptroller General to study and report to Congress on: (1) the costs to the Medicare program of eliminating the initial coverage limit and providing specified standard prescription drug coverage until the individual reaches the annual out-of-pocket threshold; and (2) the adjustment to the applicable coinsurance that would be necessary to eliminate the initial coverage limit under such conditions without increasing the costs to the Medicare program.
People & committees
Sen. Snowe, Olympia J. [R-ME] · R–ME
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S8062-8063)
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Aug 15, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze S.3703 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine S.3703 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine S.3703 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine S.3703 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.