Coverage would then stop, except for people with high drug expenses.

The maximum federal payment would be $1,000, for a person with drug expenses of $2,000 or more in 2003.

It protects you against ever having very high drug expenses.

But under the House Republican plan individuals must pay 100 percent of their drug expenses between $2,000 and $5,300.

The Government would pay $1,200 of the first $1,700 in annual drug expenses.

By 2009, Medicare would cover half of the first $5,000 in drug expenses.

For an individual patient, Medicare would pick up much of the first $2,000 in drug expenses and the full cost above $5,000 a year.

It should be particularly useful to people with low incomes or high drug expenses.

The Government would pay the same $2,500 for a person who ran up, say, $10,000 in drug expenses.

State estimates show that only 475,000 of these people have enough drug expenses to benefit from the arrangement.