This report begins by providing an overview of Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) benefits, including premium and cost-sharing liabilities for the general Medicare population. The overview is followed by a discussion of the subsidy benefits available for low-income individuals. The report then highlights some of the key implementation issues.

This report discusses aspects of the process by which House committees mark up and report legislation. The markup begins with the chair calling up a particular measure for consideration by the committee. The next action depends on the nature of the "markup vehicle" (i.e., the text that the chair intends for the committee to amend and report), which may be different from the measure laid before the panel for consideration. The vehicle can come before the committee in several different forms, each of which has its own procedural and political consequences.