Incumbents are returned to office for passing laws the voters want, not for gridlock. That fact may be getting lost on Congressional leadership. Although both the House and the Senate recently voted to set aside $40 billion over the next five years to provide prescription drug benefits to older Americans, progress on prescription drug proposals has been slow.

In April Republicans sketched out a blueprint for adding prescription drug coverage to Medicare, but more than two months later most of the details were still missing from their proposal. The legislation relies heavily on the private sector in which insurers could offer a range of prescription drug plans. The government would cover the costs for Medicare recipients up to 150% of poverty level ($12,500 for singles, $16,875 for couples) as well as for those whose drug costs are very high or "catastrophic." The proposal lacks critical details such as the amount of premiums and what the basic benefit would cover.

The Republican plan is questionable given the private insurance industry's warning that such "stand-alone" policies would be unworkable and very expensive for consumers. More than 24 million Medicare beneficiaries with incomes above 150% of poverty would pay the full additional cost of the drug benefit, the very thing many uninsured seniors cannot now afford.

House and Senate Democrats unveiled a drug plan modeled after President Clinton's proposal. The voluntary coverage would cost about $25 per month in premiums and would pay half the cost of each prescription up to $2,000 annually ($1,000 for the beneficiary, $1,000 for Medicare). Benefits would rise to cover $5,000 when fully phased in, with premiums increasing as well. The government would cover the costs of premiums and co-payments for Medicare recipients up to 150% of poverty level as well as catastrophic drug costs under the Democrats plan.

Progress has been impeded by disagreements over how drug prices would be controlled. Without such measures both senior consumers and the insurance industry fear that premiums and co-payments would be unaffordable for many seniors. The drug and insurance industry continue to wrangle with Congress and the White House over drug benefit payment details and how drug prices would be negotiated under the new plans.

Now is the time for you to make your opinion known to your Members of Congress on prescription drugs. We urge you to write your Representative and Senators soon asking for action before Congress adjourns to campaign for re-election.