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A new KFF analysis finds that the list prices for most of the top Medicare Part D drugs by total spending increased as much as nine times the rate of inflation (1.7%) between 2016 and 2017, suggesting recent Congressional proposals targeting such increases could generate savings for Medicare and Part D enrollees.
Medicare Part D enrollees with relatively high out-of-pocket expenses can expect see their costs rise in 2020, according to a new KFF analysis.
This brief describes how the Medicare Part D benefit will change in 2020 under current law and proposed changes that would affect what beneficiaries, plans, manufacturers, and Medicare pay for drug costs under Part D in the future.
This data note explores the attitudes and experiences of older adults, ages 65 and up, when it comes to prescription drugs and related policy proposals being discussed. Experiences across different demographic groups are explored, such as household income and health status.
Three key private health insurance markets -- Medicare Advantage, the individual market and the fully-insured group market -- appear to be financially healthy and attractive to insurers. The private Medicare Advantage market generates significantly larger gross margins per person than the individual market or fully-insured market. The future of these markets has become a focus for policymakers amid the debate over Medicare for All.
As policymakers in Washington discuss ways to curb the rising cost of prescription drugs, KFF has released a summary and analysis of proposals and recently finalized initiatives that affect Medicare prescription drug spending.
A new KFF animation explains how rebates for prescription drugs work, including how they are determined, who benefits from them, how they affect spending by insurers and consumers and the role of pharmacy benefit managers in the process.
This animation explains how rebates for prescription drugs work and why they matter in the debate about lowering drug costs. The video breaks down how prescription drug rebates are determined, who benefits from them, how they affect spending by insurers and consumers and the role of pharmacy benefit managers in the process.
The Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit has helped improve the affordability of medications for people with Medicare. Yet Part D enrollees can face relatively high out-of-pocket costs because the Part D benefit does not have a hard cap on out-of-pocket spending. This analysis presents the latest data on out-of-pocket drug spending among Medicare Part D enrollees without low-income subsidies who have costs above the catastrophic coverage threshold.
The analysis examines enrollment in Medicare Advantage plans during beneficiaries’ first year on Medicare and finds that less than one-third or 29% enrolled in these private health plans, including HMOs or PPOs. The majority of people new to Medicare are choosing traditional Medicare in the year they first go on Medicare. The study looks at how these findings vary across age, Medicaid status, states, and counties.
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