Medicare: Prescription Drugs - Kaiser Family Foundation

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Medicare: Prescription Drugs

New Election 2008 Brief Examines Medicare's Current and Future Policy Issues
This brief, part of a series of 2008 election briefs on key health policy issues, provides an overview of Medicare and offers a series of questions to help understand how presidential candidates Senators McCain and Obama would address Medicare policy challenges if elected.

Medicare Prescription Drug Plans in 2008 and Key Changes Since 2006: Summary of Findings
This analysis presents key findings from a series of eight Medicare Part D 2008 Data Spotlights looking at various aspects of the Medicare prescription drug plans offered in 2008 and trends since 2006.

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Medicare Health & Prescription Drug Plan Tracker -- November 2008
The interactive resource provides local, regional and national information about Medicare Advantage plans, as well as current information on stand-alone Part D prescription drug plans. The tool allows users to graph or map comparative and trend data about enrollment, plan participation and other key information.

Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plan (PDP) Availability in 2009 -- November 2008
This fact sheet contains 2009 state-specific summary data about available Medicare drug benefit options, including the number of stand-alone plans with gap coverage in the "doughnut hole," and the number of plans available at no cost to qualifying beneficiaries.

Medicare Part D 2009 Data Spotlight: Premiums -- November 2008
This spotlight analyzes the premiums charged by the 1,689 stand-alone Medicare Part D plans that will be offered in markets across the country in 2009. It is one in a series analyzing key aspects of the Medicare Part D drug plans that will be available to beneficiaries in 2009.

Medicare Part D 2009 Data Spotlight: The Coverage Gap -- November 2008
This data spotlight examines the coverage gap, or "doughnut hole," in Medicare drug plans available in 2009. 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. The spotlight is one in a series analyzing key aspects of the Medicare Part D drug plans that will be available to beneficiaries in 2009.

How Does the Benefit Value of Medicare Compare to the Benefit Value of Typical Large Employer Plans? -- September 2008
This Kaiser Family Foundation analysis finds that, even with its new drug benefit, Medicare on average provides less generous benefits to seniors than they would receive under a typical large-employer health plan or the most popular plan available to federal employees.

The Federal Government's Authority To Regulate Advertising in Medicare -- September 2008
This policy brief, prepared for the Kaiser Family Foundation by Vicky Gottlich at the Center for Medicare Advocacy, explains the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ legal authority to regulate advertising and other information issued by the private companies that contract with the government to provide Medicare benefits.

Pitching Private Medicare Plans: An Analysis of Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug Plan Advertising -- September 2008
This Kaiser Family Foundation report analyzes the content and frequency of television, print and radio advertisement for private Medicare plans that ran nationally or in one of three local media markets (Miami/Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Phoenix, Ariz.; and Greensboro, N.C.) during the marketing and enrollment period for 2008 plan offerings.

Medicare Spending and Financing Fact Sheet -- September 2008
This updated fact sheet provides an overview of spending on the Medicare program, how the program is financed, and Medicare’s future financial outlook. It includes the latest available data on Medicare financing.

Medicare Advantage Fact Sheet -- September 2008
This updated fact sheet provides an overview of the Medicare Advantage program, describes program changes made by the new drug law in plan participation and beneficiary enrollment, presents data on benefits and premiums, and explains changes in Medicare payments to participating plans.

The Medicare Part D Coverage Gap: Costs and Consequences in 2007 -- August 2008
This study quantifies, for the first time, the number of Medicare Part D plan enrollees in 2007 who reached a gap in their prescription drug coverage known as the "doughnut hole," as well as the changes in beneficiaries' use of medications and out-of-pocket spending after they reached that gap.

The interactive resource provides local, regional and national information about Medicare Advantage plans, as well as current information on stand-alone Part D prescription drug plans. The tool allows users to graph or map comparative and trend data about enrollment, plan participation and other key information.

This fact sheet contains 2009 state-specific summary data about available Medicare drug benefit options, including the number of stand-alone plans with gap coverage in the "doughnut hole," and the number of plans available at no cost to qualifying beneficiaries.

This spotlight analyzes the premiums charged by the 1,689 stand-alone Medicare Part D plans that will be offered in markets across the country in 2009. It is one in a series analyzing key aspects of the Medicare Part D drug plans that will be available to beneficiaries in 2009.

This data spotlight examines the coverage gap, or "doughnut hole," in Medicare drug plans available in 2009. 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. The spotlight is one in a series analyzing key aspects of the Medicare Part D drug plans that will be available to beneficiaries in 2009.

This Kaiser Family Foundation analysis finds that, even with its new drug benefit, Medicare on average provides less generous benefits to seniors than they would receive under a typical large-employer health plan or the most popular plan available to federal employees.

This policy brief, prepared for the Kaiser Family Foundation by Vicky Gottlich at the Center for Medicare Advocacy, explains the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ legal authority to regulate advertising and other information issued by the private companies that contract with the government to provide Medicare benefits.

This Kaiser Family Foundation report analyzes the content and frequency of television, print and radio advertisement for private Medicare plans that ran nationally or in one of three local media markets (Miami/Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Phoenix, Ariz.; and Greensboro, N.C.) during the marketing and enrollment period for 2008 plan offerings.

This updated fact sheet provides an overview of spending on the Medicare program, how the program is financed, and Medicare’s future financial outlook. It includes the latest available data on Medicare financing.

This updated fact sheet provides an overview of the Medicare Advantage program, describes program changes made by the new drug law in plan participation and beneficiary enrollment, presents data on benefits and premiums, and explains changes in Medicare payments to participating plans.

This study quantifies, for the first time, the number of Medicare Part D plan enrollees in 2007 who reached a gap in their prescription drug coverage known as the "doughnut hole," as well as the changes in beneficiaries' use of medications and out-of-pocket spending after they reached that gap.

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Prescription Drugs: Medicare

Prescription drug use increases with age along with the prevalence of chronic and acute health problems. However, because Medicare does not cover outpatient prescription drugs, 38% of seniors and younger beneficiaries with disabilities had no drug coverage in the Fall of 1999. Rising drug costs pose challenges for Medicare beneficiaries, who tend to use more medications (averaging 23 per year in 1999) than do younger adults. The Congressional Budget Office projects that total drug spending for the Medicare population will grow from $95 billion in 2003 to $284 billion in 2013, increasing at an average annual rate of over 10% and totaling $1.8 trillion (2004-2013).