The House of Representatives passed HR 1 (The Medicare Prescription Drug and Modernization Act of 2003) by a vote margin of 220-215 on Saturday, November 22nd, followed by a vote on Tuesday, November 25th, in the Senate, also in favor of the Act. The Senate passed the measure by a margin of 54-44.

• To view the act in its entirety, click here
• Overview and more resources
  
  To view a presentation by the Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
  MEDICARE PRESCRIPTION DRUG, IMPROVEMENT AND MODERNIZATION ACT (MMA) OF 2003
  Options for Plan Sponsors, click here
  
  Also, other than what the bill does for modernizing Medicare, it has important provisions for Health Savings Accounts (HSA) that basically make such arrangements available to the rest of the population outside of the current eligible pool of self-employed individuals and employees of small businesses.