Medicare Payments Challenged

The Hartford Courant ^ | June 12, 2004 | John A. MacDonald

[MikeJ75]

WASHINGTON -- The federal government has begun making billions of dollars in payments to bolster private Medicare insurance plans, raising the question: Is it fair to spend substantially more money on some beneficiaries than others?

The additional payments, included in the huge overhaul of Medicare that Congress passed last year, have received far less attention than the much-discussed prescription-drug discount card, which went into operation June 1.