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Rush is wrong. The plan is not free.

Under the Senate bill, fully effective in 2006, seniors would pay a $35 monthly premium and a $275 deductible but then would have half their drug costs covered up to $4450 a year. Then they would have no coverage until they had spent about $5800 of their own money. Low income people would get additional subsidies.
This is what Nancy Pelosi thinks of the Bush proposal-which is different than the Senate version. Notice how the Democrats are upset at the high out of pocket cost for seniors.:

" “President Bush has proposed a different course. The meager benefit he is proposing, even with its coverage gaps and high out-of-pocket costs, won’t be available to the 89 percent of Medicare beneficiaries who are enrolled in the existing fee-for-service program."

From the Chicago Tribune:
" Some analysts say many Medicare recipients may consider it too skimpy and decide not to enroll, holding politicians accountable for providing a meager benefit that will not take effect until 2006. The legislation has a long way to go, and it could change significantly before it lands on President Bush's desk. But the version approved by the Senate Finance Committee last week, which is most likely to pass Congress, sets a hefty price just for enrolling in the drug plan, and signing up is voluntary."
" A plan sponsored by the House Republican leadership is similar to the Senate proposal. It calls for an average $35 monthly premium, along with a $250 annual deductible. But unlike the Senate plan, the House version would cover 80 percent drug costs up to $2,000.

There also is a "doughnut" in the House bill.

After the first $2,000 in costs under the House bill, seniors would receive no prescription drug coverage until they spend $5,100 on medicine. Then, the House bill calls for paying 100 percent of drug costs.

Higher-income Americans--individuals who earn more than $60,000 and couples who bring in more than $120,000--would have to pay more out of pocket before receiving catastrophic coverage."