This initial analysis examines the stand-alone Medicare drug plan options that will be available to beneficiaries in 2010, including the number of available, premiums for those plans, and benefit designs.  About two-thirds of the nearly 27 million Medicare beneficiaries who are enrolled in Part D plans get their coverage through stand-alone plans.

The analysis is based on the 2010 Medicare drug plan information released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on Oct. 1, 2009.  The analysis was conducted jointly by researchers at Georgetown University, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago.

Issue Brief (.pdf)