Bush signs $400bn healthcare overhaul bill

US President George W Bush yesterday signed into law a $400 billion (€327bn) overhaul of the Medicare old-age health system in nearly four decades, which includes for the first time a prescription-drug benefit for seniors.

Mr Bush said the measure, estimated to cost $400 billion over the next 10 years, would give older Americans “better choices and more control over their healthcare, so they can receive the modern medical care they deserve.”

Overall, the new law will carry out the most extensive changes since Medicare’s creation in 1965. It adds a prescription drug benefit beginning in 2006.