Before 2006, Medicare did not include coverage for outpatient prescription drugs. Given the important role of prescription drugs in health care, and the rising costs of these drugs, several proposals to add a drug benefit to Medicare have been proposed in the past. The most recent - the Medicare Modernization Act - passed in 2003 and created Medicare Part D – an outpatient prescription drug benefit that began covering seniors in January 2006.

In the period leading up to passage of the Medicare Modernization Act, there was overwhelming support for the addition of a prescription drug benefit to Medicare. Between eight and nine in ten Americans supported providing prescription drug coverage for seniors through Medicare, and this support was very consistent over time.