Prescription Drugs - Research and Data from KFF

The Effect of Delaying the Selection of Small Molecule Drugs for Medicare Drug Price Negotiation

Apr 16, 2025

Policy Watch

In a new Trump administration executive order, the Secretary of HHS is directed to work with Congress to implement a change in law to delay negotiation of so-called “small molecule” drugs under the Inflation Reduction Act's Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program for an additional 4 years. This brief analyzes how many of the drugs previously selected for negotiation would not have been eligible if this policy had been in place at the time.

Classifying Misoprostol and Mifepristone as Controlled Substances: Implications for the Management of Non-Abortion Related Conditions

Apr 3, 2025

Issue Brief

This data note analyzes employer-sponsored insurance and Medicaid claims data to see how mifepristone and misoprostol—two drugs used in the medication abortion regimen—are prescribed for reasons other than abortion including management of miscarriages, abnormal bleeding or hemorrhage, as well as IUD insertions and other conditions.

Changes to Medicare Part D in 2024 and 2025 Under the Inflation Reduction Act and How Enrollees Will Benefit

Apr 20, 2023

Issue Brief

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 includes several provisions to lower prescription drug costs for people with Medicare and reduce drug spending by the federal government, including a number of changes to the Medicare Part D drug benefit. This brief provides an overview of the Part D benefit design and Part D enrollee cost-sharing requirements in 2023 and changes coming in 2024 and 2025.

Proposed Coverage of Anti-Obesity Drugs in Medicare and Medicaid Would Expand Access to Millions of People with Obesity

Nov 26, 2024

Policy Watch

This policy watch examines the implications of new proposed regulations that would allow Medicare and require Medicaid to cover drugs used to treat obesity, including a relatively new class of highly effective but costly drugs known as GLP-1s.

Medicare Part D in 2025: A First Look at Prescription Drug Plan Availability, Premiums, and Cost Sharing

Nov 22, 2024

Issue Brief

Medicare Part D is a voluntary outpatient prescription drug benefit for people with Medicare provided through private plans, including stand-alone prescription drug plans and Medicare Advantage plans that offer drug coverage. This analysis provides an overview of Medicare Part D plan availability, premiums, and cost sharing in 2025 and key trends over time.

Poll: By a Wide Margin, Democratic Voters Now Care More About the Affordable Care Act Than Republican Voters Do, And Voters Trust Democrats More Than Republicans to Handle Its Future

Dec 1, 2023

News Release

The future of the Affordable Care Act, an issue that was once a key health care issue for Republican voters, is now more important to Democratic voters, a new KFF Health Tracking Poll finds.

KFF Health Tracking Poll: Health Care Issues Emerge as Important Topics on 2024 Campaign Trail, Plus Concerns Loom Large Around Medicaid Unwinding

Dec 1, 2023

Feature

The future of the Affordable Care Act, once a key issue for Republican voters, is now of higher importance to Democratic voters. This KFF Health Tracking Poll also explores other important issues for candidates to discuss according to voters, Medicaid unwinding, Medicare drug-price provisions, and abortion as a voting issue.

Millions of Medicare Part D Enrollees Have Had Out-of-Pocket Drug Spending Above the Catastrophic Threshold Over Time

Jul 23, 2021

Issue Brief

Medicare Part D, the outpatient prescription drug benefit for Medicare beneficiaries, provides catastrophic coverage for high out-of-pocket drug costs, but there is no limit on the total amount that beneficiaries have to pay out of pocket each year. Policymakers on both sides of the aisle support proposals to modify the design of the Part D benefit and establish a hard cap on out-of-pocket prescription drug spending by Part D enrollees. This analysis shows the number of Part D enrollees without low-income subsidies who have exceeded the catastrophic coverage threshold annually, and over multiple years, based on 2007-2019 Part D claims data.

Costs and Savings under Federal Policy Approaches to Address Medicaid Prescription Drug Spending

Jun 22, 2021

Issue Brief

This brief analyzes leading federal approaches to address Medicaid prescription drug spending, discusses (where available) a range of cost estimates for each policy, and assesses what drives those estimates or where there is uncertainty in them.

FDA’s Approval of Biogen’s New Alzheimer’s Drug Has Huge Cost Implications for Medicare and Beneficiaries

Jun 10, 2021

Issue Brief

The question of what would happen when a new, expensive prescription drug comes to market for a disease like Alzheimer’s that afflicts millions of people has loomed large in discussions over drug prices in the U.S. This brief analyzes the cost implications for Medicare and beneficiaries associated with Biogen's new FDA-approved Alzheimer's drug, which will cost $56,000 per year.

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