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Medicare Part D

How Medicare Advantage Rebates Disadvantage Medicare’s Stand-Alone Drug Plan Market

Rebates that reduce Part D premiums for Medicare Advantage plans with drug coverage make it harder for stand-alone prescription drug plans (PDPs) to compete. That may contribute to instability in the PDP market relied on by people in traditional Medicare. The number of Part D stand-alone Rx drug plan options for the avg Medicare beneficiary has fallen by half in recent years, while Medicare Advantage drug plan options have risen.

Also: Medicare Part D Enrollment, Premiums, and Cost Sharing in 2026

Analyzing Changes in Medicare Part D Enrollment for 2026

Stand-Alone Drug Plans Cover a Larger Share of Part D Enrollees Living in the Most Rural Areas Than Medicare Advantage Plans

A Current Snapshot of the Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Benefit

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

NEW AND NOTEWORTHY

What to Know About Medicare Coverage of Telehealth

Congress has repeatedly extended pandemic-era flexibilities around Medicare coverage of telehealth, but most such flexibilities remain temporary. This brief answers key questions about the current scope of Medicare telehealth coverage, including both temporary and permanent changes adopted through legislation and regulation, and future policy considerations.

Examining the Potential Impact of Medicare’s New WISeR Model

A federal initiative to establish new prior authorization requirements in traditional Medicare, called the Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction (WISeR) model, is likely to have only modest impact in its first year.

State Profiles for Dual-Eligible Individuals

This data collection draws on Medicare and Medicaid administrative data to present national and state-level information on people who are covered by both Medicare and Medicaid, referred to as dual-eligible individuals (also known as dually-enrolled beneficiaries).

Medicare Advantage

Medicare Advantage in 2026: Enrollment Update and Key Trends

More than half (55%) of eligible Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in Medicare Advantage in 2026, continuing a decades-long shift toward private plans. Special Needs Plans have driven recent growth, with nearly 1 in 4 enrollees now in such plans.
To better understand trends in the growth of the Medicare Advantage program, this brief provides current information about enrollment, including by plan type and firm.

See Also: Medicare Advantage in 2026: Premiums, Out-of-Pocket Limits, Supplemental Benefits, and Prior Authorization

How Medicare Pays Medicare Advantage Plans: Issues and Policy Options

Medicare Advantage Enrollees Have Access to About Half of the Physicians Available to Traditional Medicare Beneficiaries

Medicare Advantage Insurers Made Nearly 53 Million Prior Authorization Determinations in 2024

Medicare Advantage Out-of-Pocket Limits: Variation & Trends

Prescription Drugs

What to Know About the BALANCE Model for GLP-1s in Medicare and Medicaid and the Medicare GLP-1 Bridge

CMS's temporary program to cover GLP-1 drugs for obesity in Medicare, called the BALANCE model, will not launch as scheduled on January 1, 2027. Instead, CMS is extending the Medicare GLP-1 Bridge, a separate short-term program that was to run from July to December 2026. It will now run through the end of 2027.

Key Facts About Medicare Drug Price Negotiation

Recent Trends in GLP-1 Use and Spending in Medicare

What to Know About Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) and Federal Efforts at Regulation

The IRA Has Improved Coverage of Drugs Selected for Medicare Price Negotiation

Data Visualization

The Facts About Medicare Spending

This interactive provides the facts on Medicare spending. Medicare, which serves 67 million people and accounts for 12 percent of the federal budget and 21 percent of national health spending, is often the focus of discussions about health expenditures, health care affordability and the sustainability of federal health programs. u003cbru003eu003cbru003eExplore data on enrollment growth, Medicare spending trends overall and per person, growth in Medicare spending relative to private insurance, spending on benefits and Medicare Advantage, Part A trust fund solvency challenges, and growth in out-of-pocket spending by beneficiaries.u003cbru003eu003cbru003eu003ca href=u0022https://www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/faqs-on-medicare-financing-and-trust-fund-solvency/u0022 data-type=u0022linku0022 data-id=u0022https://www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/faqs-on-medicare-financing-and-trust-fund-solvency/u0022u003eRelated:u003ca href=u0022https://www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/faqs-on-medicare-financing-and-trust-fund-solvency/u0022u003e FAQs on Medicare Financing and Trust Fund Solvencyu003c/au003eu003c/au003e

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  • NPR/Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard Kennedy School of Government Survey on Health Care – Chart Pack

    Poll Finding

    New NPR/Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard Kennedy School of Government Survey on Health Care A new survey by NPR, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and Harvard s Kennedy School of Government finds that many Americans have real problems when it comes to accessing and paying for health care, and even if they haven't yet faced a problem, many worry about getting and paying for care in the future. The survey also shows that, while people think helping seniors…

  • Health Reform and Medicare: Overview of Key Provisions Tutorial

    Interactive

    This tutorial was produced for kaiserEDU.org, a Kaiser Family Foundation website that ceased production in September 2013. The kaiserEDU.org tutorials are no longer being updated but have been made available on kff.org due to demand by professors who are using the tutorials in class assignments. You may search for other tutorials to view on kff.org. To download this or other tutorials, visit the tutorials archive page.  Slides are available for download using the "Download Slides" link within the…

  • Millions of Medicare Beneficiaries Use Prescription Drugs That Could Be Subject to Price Negotiation, But Build Back Better Act Provision Exempts Many Drugs With High Federal Spending

    News Release

    Twenty drugs and dozens of insulin products used by 8.5 million Medicare beneficiaries would be subject to government drug price negotiation if the Build Back Better Act (BBBA) were enacted and fully implemented in 2022, according to a new KFF analysis. The 20 drugs include 18 drugs available to beneficiaries covered under Medicare Part D (typically drugs purchased at the pharmacy) and two drugs covered under Medicare Part B (physician-administered drugs). The list includes drugs…

  • What Could New Anti-Obesity Drugs Mean for Medicare?

    Policy Watch

    In this piece, we discuss Medicare coverage of obesity treatments, the potential cost implications if Medicare covers anti-obesity drugs, and how the Inflation Reduction Act could potentially address these cost concerns.

  • A Profile of Medicare-Medicaid Enrollees (Dual Eligibles)

    Issue Brief

    This brief examines the demographic, socioeconomic, and health characteristics of Medicare-Medicaid enrollees using the 2020 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey. It highlights the diversity within the Medicare-Medicaid population and how Medicare-Medicaid enrollees differ from all other Medicare beneficiaries.

  • Testimony: Income Security and the Elderly: Securing Gains Made in the War on Poverty

    Issue Brief

    Senior Vice President Patricia Neuman testified before the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging as part of its hearing entitled Income Security and the Elderly: Securing Gains Made in the War on Poverty. As part of her testimony, she presented segments from a Foundation-produced video that highlights what it means to be old and poor in our country.

  • Webinar for Journalists: How the Affordable Care Act Affects Baby Boomers and Medicare Beneficiaries

    Event Date:
    Event

    As part of the "Covering Health Reform" series, this webinar focused on the major changes facing older people. The Foundation's Associate Director of the Program on Medicare Policy, Juliette Cubanski and Senior Fellow Karen Pollitz discussed how the Affordable Care Act impacts Medicare benefits and beneficiaries, as well as the ACA's role for baby boomers who are not yet 65 and eligible for Medicare.

  • The Medicare Program: Panorama General De Medicare

    Fact Sheet

    Que Es El Medicare Y Como Se Financia? Medicare es un programa de seguro medico nacional que atiende a 39 millones de ancianos y discapacitados. Antes de la existencia del Medicare, menos de la mitad de todos los norteamericanos de edad avanzada contaban con un seguro medico. Hoy en dia, practicamente todos los adultos de 65 anos de edad mayores se encuentran asegurados bajo Medicare. Medicare cubre a 34 millones de beneficiarios ancianos y a…

  • Demonstrations to Improve the Coordination of Medicare and Medicaid for Dually Eligible Beneficiaries: What Prior Experience Did Health Plans and States Have with Capitated Arrangements?

    Report

    This report examines the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) financial alignment demonstration for beneficiaries dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid, with a focus on the extent to which participating states and health plans have prior experience with capitated managed care arrangements under Medicare or Medicaid, and specifically for this population. Under these capitated financial alignment demonstrations, health plans contract with the state and CMS (a three-way contract) to provide both Medicare and Medicaid…