Low-Income Assistance Under the Medicare Drug Benefit
This fact sheet provides an overview of the Medicare drug benefit and the additional subsidies available to certain eligible low-income beneficiaries. Fact Sheet - December 2009 (.
View the Latest: Medicare Part D
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Medicare Part D 2010 Data Spotlight: Benefit Design and Cost Sharing
ReportThe 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.
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Medicare Part D 2010 Data Spotlight: A Comparison of PDPs Offering Basic and Enhanced Benefits
ReportThis Part D Data Spotlight examines key differences between basic and enhanced Medicare stand-alone prescription drug plans (PDPs), including monthly premiums, cost sharing, and gap coverage. It also examines plan names to assess whether they convey meaningful differences between basic and enhanced PDPs.
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Medicare Part D 2010 Data Spotlight: Premiums
ReportMedicare Part D helps cover the cost of outpatient prescription drugs for 27 million beneficiaries enrolled in private stand-alone prescription drug plans (PDPs) and Medicare Advantage prescription drug (MA-PD) plans. The majority of Part D enrollees pay a monthly premium for Medicare drug coverage.
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Medicare Advantage 2010 Data Spotlight: Plan Availability and Premiums
Issue BriefThis data spotlight examines changes in the availability and premiums of private Medicare Advantage options for Medicare beneficiaries in 2010 as the annual open enrollment period begins. While the number of plans available in 2010 declined somewhat from 2009, the analysis finds that Medicare beneficiaries on average have 33 Medicare Advantage plans to choose from.
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Medicare Part D 2010 Data Spotlight: The Coverage Gap
ReportThis data spotlight examines the coverage gap, or "doughnut hole," in Medicare stand-alone drug plans available in 2010. While in the gap in coverage, Part D enrollees (other than those receiving low-income subsidies) are required to pay 100 percent of total drug costs until they reach the catastrophic coverage level.
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Medicare Part D Spotlight: Part D Plan Availability in 2010 and Key Changes Since 2006
Issue BriefThis Medicare Part D data spotlight examines the stand-alone Medicare drug plan options that will be available to beneficiaries in 2010, including the number of available plans, 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.
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Examining Sources of Supplemental Insurance and Prescription Drug Coverage Among Medicare Beneficiaries: Findings from the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey, 2007
ReportThis updated chartpack presents sources of supplemental and prescription drug coverage among Medicare beneficiaries in 2007, the most recent year for which national data are available. The chartpack looks at variations in supplemental and prescription drug coverage by income, race/ethnicity, age, urban/rural location, and health status.
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Medicare Part D Update: Lessons Learned and Unfinished Business
ReportEnacted in 2003, Medicare’s Part D prescription drug benefit reflected an unprecedented and controversial new approach for Medicare, relying exclusively on private plans to provide health coverage and including an unusual gap in coverage. This analysis by Kaiser researchers examines in detail how the new model has worked since its launch almost four years ago.
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Medicare Part D 2009 Data Spotlight: Specialty Tiers
Issue BriefMost Medicare Part D prescription drug plans use tiers with different cost-sharing amounts for generic, preferred, and non-preferred drugs, and also include an additional “specialty” tier for very high cost and unique drugs.