The Senate hearings on the House-passed social security bill drew to a close with indications that major efforts to change the measure would center on a controversial generic drug bill and relaxation of some of the restrictions imposed by the House on aid to families with dependent children program and on the medicaid program.
The bill raises social security retirement benefits, hikes the social security wage base, and makes numerous changes in the medicare program including a lengthening of the hospital stay benefit to 120 days, elimination of initial physician certification for hospitalization, placing outpatient hospital diagnostic services under Part B, payment of full reasonable charges of inpatient hospital services of pathologists and radiologists from the Part B trust fund, and permitting patients to be reimbursed on the basis of an itemized statement of charges.
The Administration's major expansion proposal—to include the 1.5 million disabled social security beneficiaries under age