Currently, federal workers receive drug benefits that exceed the value of Medicare drug benefits promised to employees in bills passed by Congress last month. Although the Medicare legislation allows for a huge expansion
of the health insurance system, there is some fear that employers will have an incentive to reduce their own drug coverage. These concerns have led Congress to propose a new bill stating that drug benefits for retired federal employees cannot be reduced to the level proposed for Medicare.
See "Plans Improve Federal Workers' Drug Benefits", Robert Pear, The New York Times, July 7, 2003