SUMMARY AS OF:
3/24/1999--Introduced.
Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage Act of 1999 - Directs the Secretary of
Health and Human Services to conduct a study for a report to Congress on
establishment of an outpatient prescription drug benefit under Medicare (title
XVIII of the Social Security Act (SSA)) that provides for full outpatient
prescription drug coverage for Medicare beneficiaries.
Amends SSA title XVIII to: (1) provide for the transfer of Federal estate tax
revenues to the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund under Medicare in order to
offset the costs of the prescription drug benefit above; and (2) establish in
the Trust Fund an expenditure account, the Outpatient Prescription Drug Account,
to receive such Federal estate tax revenues, to pay for outpatient prescription
drugs furnished under this Act.