Medicare Rx Drug Discount and Security Act of 2001

This bill, introduced in 2001, proposed creating a voluntary program to help Medicare beneficiaries afford outpatient prescription drugs, which were not broadly covered by Medicare at the time. It aimed to establish a new "Part D" within Medicare to provide drug discounts and financial protection against extremely high medication costs.

For everyday citizens, the bill’s primary impact would have been the introduction of a government-endorsed discount card and a "catastrophic benefit" to limit out-of-pocket spending for seniors and people with disabilities. While this specific bill did not become law, its core concepts—including the creation of a voluntary prescription drug benefit and the "Part D" designation—laid the groundwork for the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003, which eventually established the modern Medicare prescription drug program.