The Medicare Modernization Act established a defined standard drug benefit for Part D stand-alone Prescription Drug Plans (PDPs) and Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug (MA-PD) plans, while giving plans flexibility to offer alternative benefit designs.  Only about one in 10 PDPs offer the standard benefit in 2010.  Plan sponsors can offer alternative benefit designs that are, at a minimum, actuarially equivalent to the defined standard and can also offer enhanced benefits. This spotlight examines the benefit designs of Medicare stand-alone PDPs in 2010.  

The spotlight is one in a series analyzing key aspects of the Medicare Part D drug plans that will be available to beneficiaries in 2010. These spotlights were prepared by a team of researchers at Georgetown University, NORC and the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Data Spotlight (.pdf)