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Prescription Drug Benefits

Journal Article
Prior Authorization Restrictions on Medications for Opioid Use Disorder: Trends in State Laws from 2005 to 2019
Researchers conducted a review of U.S. regulations and statutes between 2005 and 2019 related to medications for opioid use disorder to identify the frequency and types of prior authorization prohibitions in state laws.
Feb 9, 2023
Journal Article
Part D Senior Savings Model: Model Reach and Scope
This report describes the reach and scope of Medicare's Part D Senior Savings model, which has lower, fixed cost sharing for a specified set of model drugs.
Nov 9, 2022
Commentary
Medicare Drug Price Negotiation: Key Decisions to Reach a 'Fair Price'
Government negotiation of Medicare drug prices—even for a small set of older, single-source drugs—is a remarkable policy development. But how exactly will the government do it?
Nov 7, 2022
Journal Article
Association Between Hospital-Physician Vertical Integration and Medication Adherence Rates
Increases in vertical integration were not associated with changes in medication adherence rates. However, adherence rates after vertical integration declined for non-Whites, patients over 80 years old, and patients with greater comorbidities.
Oct 28, 2022
Report
RAND Technical Expert Panel Medicare Advantage (MA) and Part D Contract Star Ratings, February 7, 2022 Meeting
On February 7, 2022, the RAND Corporation convened a Technical Expert Panel web meeting to gather input about the potential development of a measure to capture value-based care arrangements Medicare Advantage organizations have with their contracted providers.
Jun 17, 2022
Journal Article
Access to High-Cost Medications After a Cap on Monthly Out-of-Pocket Spending in California
This cross-sectional study evaluates the association of a cap on monthly out-of-pocket spending on high-cost drugs with use of these drugs and out-of-pocket spending in California in 2015 and 2016.
Mar 4, 2022
Journal Article
Origins of the Opioid Crisis and Its Enduring Impacts
In this paper, we examine the role of the 1996 introduction and marketing of OxyContin as a potential leading cause of the opioid crisis.
Oct 19, 2021
Report
RAND Technical Expert Panel Medicare Advantage (MA) and Part D Contract Star Ratings, May 5, 2021 Meeting
The RAND team gathered input from experts about stratified reporting by Part D low-income subsidy (LIS) and dual eligibility (DE), and disability and assessing social risk factors of Medicare Advantage (MA) and Part D contract beneficiaries.
Aug 5, 2021
Journal Article
Variation in Generic Dispensing Rates in Medicare Part D
Although generic use has increased markedly over time in Part D, substantial variation across plans persists in a number of common therapeutic classes.
Jun 30, 2021
Blog
Biden's First Address to Congress: Insights from RAND
President Joe Biden addressed a joint session of Congress, summarizing his administration's early COVID-19 response and outlining plans that aim to loosen the pandemic's year-long grip on a weary nation. The speech reflected the fact that the United States faces policy challenges across a wide range of domains.
Apr 29, 2021
Journal Article
Psychometric Evaluation of the Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug Plan Disenrollment Reasons Survey
To develop and assess the reliability and validity of composite measures of reasons for disenrollment from Medicare Advantage and prescription drug plans.
Apr 9, 2021
Report
RAND Technical Expert Panel Medicare Advantage (MA) and Part D Contract Star Ratings, November 12, 2020 Meeting
On November 12, 2020, the RAND Corporation convened a Technical Expert Panel (TEP) web meeting to gather input about social risk factors and approaches for ensuring accurate performance measurement.
Mar 16, 2021
Report
RAND Technical Expert Panel Medicare Advantage (MA) and Part D Contract Star Ratings, November 19, 2020 Meeting
On November 19, 2020, the RAND Corporation convened a Technical Expert Panel (TEP) web meeting to gather input about stratified reporting of performance and approaches to reduce disparities in Medicare Advantage (MA) and Part D Contracts.
Mar 16, 2021
Report
Balancing Access and Cost Control in the TRICARE Prescription Drug Benefit
The Military Health System provides health and drug coverage to beneficiaries through TRICARE. This report describes the TRICARE pharmacy benefit and the trade-offs in TRICARE pharmacy policies between increasing access and controlling costs.
Jan 14, 2021
Report
RAND Technical Expert Panel Medicare Advantage (MA) and Part D Contract Star Ratings, July 22, 2020 Meeting
On July 22, 2020, the RAND Corporation convened a Technical Expert Panel (TEP) web meeting to gather input on analyses that could be conducted to further enhance the Medicare Advantage (MA) and Part D Contract Star Ratings program.
Dec 23, 2020
Commentary
Why States' 'Netflix Model' Prescription Drug Arrangements Are No Silver Bullet
Despite the buzz and catchy notion that subscription models are
Jul 1, 2020
Journal Article
How Increasing Medical Access to Opioids Contributes to the Opioid Epidemic: Evidence from Medicare Part D
The national growth in opioid supply explains 75% of the national rise in opioid treatment admissions and the diversion component is a critical driver of the opioid epidemic.
Jun 26, 2020
Commentary
Subscription Models for Prescription Drugs: The Motivation, Potential, and Limitations of a New Payment Model
The authors argue that, conceptually, the main advantage of subscription models over traditional prescription drug payment arrangements is that they could reduce some sources of uncertainty in spending for payers and in revenue for manufacturers.
May 21, 2020
Journal Article
Association of Medicare Part D Benzodiazepine Coverage Expansion With Changes in Fall-Related Injuries and Overdoses Among Medicare Advantage Beneficiaries
This study found an increase in the rate of overdose after Medicare Part D coverage began to include benzodiazepines among adults aged 65 to 69 years and 80 years or older and an increase in the rate of fall-related injury in adults 80 years or older.
May 5, 2020
Report
RAND Medicare Advantage (MA) and Part D Contract Star Ratings Technical Expert Panel November 7th, 2019 Meeting
On November 7, 2019, the RAND Corporation convened a Technical Expert Panel (TEP) web meeting to gather input on analyses that could be conducted to further enhance the Medicare Advantage (MA) and Part D Contract Star Ratings program.
Feb 7, 2020

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Research conducted by

RAND Health Care

Researcher Spotlight

Christine Buttorff

Policy Researcher

Christine Buttorff (she/her) is a policy researcher at the RAND Corporation. Her primary research interests are in health insurance benefit design and prescription drug policy. She uses both qualitative and quantitative methods for the evaluation of policy interventions.
Preethi Rao

Health Economist

Preethi Rao (she/her) is a health economist at the RAND Corporation. Her research focuses on topics related to health policy. In particular, she is interested in policy issues related to the Affordable Care Act, prescription drug costs, access to health care, and quality measurement in health…

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