Prescribing privilege.

Sen. Mark Dayton is making Washington officialdom nervous. He has slipped an amendment into the Senate's prescription drug bill that would cut drug coverage under the congressional health plan to the level Congress provides for the public. Bureaucrats from the White House down through the ranks of the civil service are worried that they too might be affected. What would happen if the public ever found out about the generous health benefits federal officials enjoy? Would the people demand the same coverage for themselves, or will the Dayton amendment mean a reduction in the feds' goodies?

There is a difference between the two sets of benefits.

On drugs, under the most popular federal plan, the congressman or other federal official pays only 25 percent of the cost. There's no deductible, and the official pays nothing at all after the total reaches $4,000. Under the Senate's plan for the people, each person must first pay a $275 deductible, then 50 percent of the cost of the prescription. Once their costs reach $2,000, the people pay 100 percent until the bill is $4,000. Then their drug coverage kicks back in until the total cost reaches $4,900. Here, at last, their benefits become equal to the senator's.

The House bill does not contain the Dayton amendment, and it appears likely to be killed in conference. The House has already passed a bill to protect federal retirees from having their benefits reduced to the proposed Medicare level. "We take care of our own, and the hell with the average American," says Rep. Fortney Stark. (You can see why the Republicans called the Capitol Police to shut this guy up.)

There are, however, a few signs that word is leaking out to the general public. I saw a good piece explaining what's going on by the Hearst News Service's Judy Holland in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. And on Aug. 4th, Nora O'Donnell laid it all out on NBC News.