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Medicare's New Prescription Drug Benefit: The Voices of People Dually Covered by Medicare and Medicaid This focus group report highlights the kinds of questions, uncertainties, and reactions that dual eligibles have when asked about the impending changes in their drug coverage. Report (.pdf)
Three new reports focus on one of the biggest challenges in the implementation of the Medicare Modernization Act, the transitioning of drug coverage for individuals dually eligible for Medicaid and Medicare, who now get their drug coverage from Medicaid, to the new Medicare benefit. The New Medicare Prescription Drug Law: Issues for Enrolling Dual Eligibles into Drug Plans Medicare's New Prescription Drug Benefit: The Voices of People Dually Covered by Medicare and Medicaid Implications of…
The New Medicare Prescription Drug Law: Issues for Enrolling Dual Eligibles into Drug Plans This report describes the characteristics of dual eligibles and then discussess four key elements of the transition of their drug coverage to Medicare. Issue Paper (.pdf)
In August 2004, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services published a proposed rule to implement the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit (Title I of the Medicare Modernization Act). Given the high level of interest in the proposed rules for implementing the Medicare drug benefit, the Kaiser Family Foundation commissioned Health Policy Alternatives, Inc. to prepare this summary of the proposed regulations. Issue Brief (.pdf)
This report projects the impact of the new Medicare drug benefit on out-of-pocket spending for people who enroll in 2006. The analysis is based on a model developed by the Actuarial Research Corporation for the Kaiser Family Foundation. The model generally conforms to the Congressional Budget Office’s assumptions and projections about Medicare drug benefit spending and participation rates for the new benefit and for the low-income subsidy. The report was released at a briefing in…
This report projects the impact of the new Medicare drug benefit on out-of-pocket spending for people who enroll in 2006. This analysis from November 2004 estimates that 6.9 million beneficiaries are projected to be affected by the coverage gap (the so-called "doughnut hole") in the standard Part D drug benefit. This estimate is based on projected enrollment in Part D plans of 29 million (Congressional Budget Office, July 2004), prior to implementation of the drug…
This comprehensive survey of people on Medicare, conducted in June and July 2004, assesses their attitudes toward the new Medicare drug law. This chartpack, issued in September 2004, presents additional analysis on the survey data, focusing on the views of people under age 65 with physical and/or mental disabilities. Supplemental Chartpack (.pdf)
This paper, by Joy Pritts of the Health Policy Institute at Georgetown University, looks at issues related to drug plan marketing activities and privacy under the MMA. Issue Brief (.pdf)
Papers on Issues For People With Medicare Raised By Proposed Drug Benefit Regulations The Kaiser Family Foundation has commissioned a series of papers to explore key issues that may be of concern for Medicare beneficiaries as the new Medicare drug benefit is implemented. These papers focus on specific areas of potential concern for people with Medicare. In addition, the Foundation also has produced a timeline of upcoming important dates leading up to the implementation of…
This comprehensive survey of people on Medicare, conducted in June and July 2004, assesses their attitudes toward the new Medicare drug law. This chartpack, issued in September 2004, presents additional analysis on the survey data, looking at key findings broken down by income group. Chartpack (.pdf)
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