Prescription Drugs

The brief provides a quick explainer of the prescription drug provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act signed into law on August 16, 2022 and presents new estimates on how many Medicare beneficiaries could be helped by those provisions.

The Inflation Reduction Act includes several provisions that will lower prescription drug costs for people with Medicare and reduce drug spending by the federal government. This brief summarizes these provisions and discusses the expected effects on people, program spending, and drug prices and innovation.

For 2023, the typical beneficiary has a choice of 43 Medicare Advantage plans as an alternative to traditional Medicare, a new KFF analysis finds. That’s an increase of 5 plans on average from 2022, adding even more choices to the Medicare Advantage marketplace, which is poised to become the dominant…

This issue brief provides an overview of the Medicare Part D marketplace in 2023 and key trends over time, focusing primarily on stand-alone Medicare drug plans, including plan availability, premiums, and cost sharing. The brief also describes the prescription drug provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 that affect the Medicare Part D marketplace beginning in 2023

This brief presents data from the 2022 KFF Women’s Health Survey about reproductive age (18-49) females’ preferences for an over-the-counter contraceptive pill (N = 4,088).

A new KFF survey finds that more than three-quarters (77%) of females ages 18-49 favor making birth control pills available without a doctor’s prescription if research shows they are safe and effective. Among those who favor making birth control pills available over the counter and who currently use prescription oral…

As Medicare’s annual open enrollment period gets underway, two new analyses from KFF suggest that a relatively small share of the nation’s 65 million Medicare beneficiaries will shop around among the many coverage options for 2023 or switch plans. That decision could have a significant impact on enrollees’ coverage and…

During the Medicare open enrollment period for 2020, Medicare beneficiaries had an average of 24 Medicare Advantage prescription drug plans and 28 stand-alone Part D prescription drug plans to choose from for their coverage. Despite having so many Medicare options, relatively few Medicare private plan enrollees opted to switch their coverage.