For starters let's look at the current situation seniors face. We all know the original Medicare plan did not include prescription drugs. Seniors who wanted drug coverage had to buy a "Medigap" plan for between $100 and $400 per month. After that expense and a yearly deductible, the Medigap plan covered only 50 cents for each dollar spent on drugs.

Even worse, the coverage generally stopped when seniors spent $1,250 on drugs. The plans didn't offer any protection for the sickest seniors, who face savings-ravaging catastrophic drug costs. The Medicare legislation recently signed into law corrects this travesty.

Starting in 2006, the full Medicare drug benefit will be available for seniors nationwide. Moderate-income seniors, who choose to enroll, will have a monthly premium of about $35 and a $250 deductible. Medicare will then pay 75 percent of all prescription drug costs up to $2,250 a year. Medicare will also pay 95 percent of the drug bills for seniors with catastrophic costs (above $5,100 a year).

While our seniors need prescription drug help today, Medicare has to undergo changes to be able to offer the new drug benefit. Because the President and the Congress strongly feel seniors should have help immediately, the bill sets up a two-year drug discount card program that is expected to be running by spring.

By leveraging the purchasing power of millions of Medicare beneficiaries, the government predicts that seniors will save an average of 10 to 25 percent on their drugs. The lowest-income seniors, who participate in both Medicare and Medicaid, will continue to receive their drug coverage through Medicaid until 2006 when the benefit will be available through Medicare.

For an additional 8,800 seniors in Alaska who earn too much to receive help through Medicaid, but who are still low-income, the federal government will put a $600 credit on their drug discount card to help them afford their prescription drugs.

While the legislation creates a prescription drug benefit it also modernizes and strengthens Medicare for current and future Alaskans. Improvements will reduce the cost of drugs for all Americans by bringing generic drugs to the market sooner. Reforms will allow seniors the option of participating in a Medicare-regulated private plan, giving them greater choices and better benefits based on a model that works - the model that serves 12 million federal employees and retirees. And tucked deep in the $400 billion in aid to seniors over the next decade are provisions that will improve the total health care system in rural states - helping all Alaskans gain access to good doctors and better medical care.

Seniors, whether they choose to stay in traditional Medicare or join one of the new Medicare Advantage plans, will benefit from a new focus on preventive health care. Starting in 2005 all new enrollees will be covered for an initial physical exam, cardiovascular screening blood tests, and diabetes screenings for those at risk. The goal is to catch and treat illnesses far sooner than we currently do and ultimately improve our seniors' quality of life.

The plan also will encourage employers to continue to offer drug coverage to their retirees by providing a federal subsidy equal to 28 percent of retiree drug benefits, up to $1,330 a year. This marks the first time that Medicare will be helping to cover the costs of seniors who receive good drug coverage from their former employers. This provision is expected to encourage companies to continue offering full drug benefits to their retirees.

The Medicare bill also includes provisions specific to Alaska. Currently, Medicare in Alaska is covering only about 37 percent of a physician's actual cost of treating patients. That is so low that some doctors can't afford to treat seniors - a trend that recently caused up to 2,000 seniors in the Anchorage area to lose access to their doctors. The bill includes an amendment that I sponsored that dedicates $53 million over the next two years to fix the flawed payment formula so seniors in Alaska will not have to go to an emergency room to find a doctor to treat them.

The reform bill is a good first step towards bringing Medicare and our health care system into the 21st Century. And while I support this important legislation, it is not perfect. I intend to work to continue improving the quality of health care for seniors and all Americans. I am confident that as Alaskans look at this legislation they will find that the real winners are our seniors.

Republican Lisa Murkowski is the junior U.S. Senator from Alaska.