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Medicare Part D

Since 2006, Medicare Part D has provided prescription drug coverage through Medicare, a federally sponsored health care program. RAND has conducted research to assess the impact of Medicare Part D, gauge the effect of enrollment levels, and examine how the program has influenced innovation.

Journal Article

Using Matched Survey and Administrative Data to Estimate Eligibility for Medicare Part D Low Income Subsidy Program

This article uses matched survey and administrative data to estimate, as of 2006, the size of the population eligible for the Low-Income Subsidy (LIS), which was designed to provide "extra help" with premiums, deductibles, and copayments for Medicare Part D beneficiaries with low income and limited assets.

Dec 31, 2009
Research Brief

Prescription Drug Cost Sharing: A Powerful Policy Lever to Use with Care

Describes the effects that prescription drug cost sharing has on drug spending, compliance with drug therapy, patient health, and overall health care costs.

Oct 21, 2009
Dissertation

Essays on Government Policy and Pharmaceutical Innovation

Investigates two mechanisms by which governments may influence pharmaceutical research and development priorities: (1) public funding for life sciences research; and (2) prescription drug insurance, as in Medicare Part D.

Sep 23, 2009
News Release

Medicare Prescription Benefit Program Has Exceeded Expectations

The program created to provide Medicare recipients with prescription drug benefits exceeded expectations during its first two years, extending pharmacy coverage to most seniors while reducing their overall spending on drugs.

Aug 24, 2009
Journal Article

Medicare Prescription Benefit Program Has Exceeded Expectations

The program created to provide Medicare recipients with prescription drug benefits exceeded expectations during its first two years, extending pharmacy coverage to most seniors while reducing their overall spending on drugs.

Jul 31, 2009
Dissertation

Preserving Health among Vulnerable Populations: Three Essays

This dissertation consists of three stand-alone essays that focus on the economics of preserving health among vulnerable population, specifically chronic ill and elderly population.

Jun 23, 2009
Report

Questionable Estimates of Eligibility for Low-Income Subsidies Under Medicare Part D

In 2003, Congress added a prescription drug benefit to the Medicare program known as Part D and a Low-Income Subsidy (LIS) for some Part D beneficiaries. About 29 percent were eligible for the LIS in 2006 but there is considerable uncertainty around this estimate.

Apr 16, 2009
Journal Article

Insurer Bargaining and Negotiated Drug Prices in Medicare Part D

The authors test whether insurers that experience larger enrollment increases due to Medicare Part D negotiate lower drug prices with pharmacies. Overall, the authors find that 100,000 additional insureds lead to 2.5-percent lower pharmacy prices negotiated by the insurer, and 5-percent reductions in pharmacy profits earned on prescriptions filled by enrollees of that insurer.

Dec 31, 2008
Journal Article

Psychometric Properties of an Instrument to Assess Medicare Beneficiaries' Prescription Drug Plan Experiences

Using data from 335,249 Medicare beneficiaries who responded to the 2007 Medicare Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) survey, along with data from 22 cognitive interviews, the authors investigated the reliability and validity of an instrument designed to assess beneficiaries' experiences with their prescription drug plans.

Dec 31, 2008
Journal Article

Strategies for Identifying and Channeling Patients for Depression Care Management

A multi-pronged effort composed of mail screening (using the PHQ-2), self-reported antidepressant use, and claims diagnoses of depression may capture the greatest number of chronically ill Medicare enrollees with possible depression.

Dec 31, 2007
Research Brief

A Look inside the "Doughnut Hole": How Drug-Benefit Limits Affect Retiree Prescription Use

This research brief examines the likely effects of the gap in the Medicare Part D standard drug benefit after $2,400 in pharmaceutical spending, using data from a private employer.

Sep 10, 2007
Journal Article

Prescription Drug Coverage and Elderly Medicare Spending

The introduction of Medicare Part D has generated interest in the cost of providing drug coverage to the elderly.

Dec 31, 2006
Journal Article

Identifying Widely Covered Drugs and Drug Coverage Variation Among Medicare Part D Formularies

Clinicians find it difficult to know which drugs are covered for their Medicare patients because formularies vary widely among Medicare Part D plans

Dec 31, 2006
Content

Preethi Rao

Policy Researcher
Education Ph.D. in health economics, University of Pennsylvania
Content

Erin Audrey Taylor

Senior Policy Researcher
Education Ph.D. in health economics, University of Pennsylvania; M.S.P.H., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; B.A. in economics, St. Mary's College of Maryland

Research conducted by

RAND Health Care