In the years leading up to the passage of the Medicare Modernization Act, support for adding a prescription drug benefit to Medicare remained high despite the cost of adding such coverage. Between 1998 and 2003, roughly seven in ten Americans supported expanding coverage even when the cost of adding such a benefit was mentioned. In June 2003, 6 months before the law was passed, more than three-quarters of Americans supported expanding Medicare to provide coverage for seniors, even when the cost to government of $400 billion was mentioned.