title: Prescription drug coverage and spending for Medicare beneficiaries.
abstract: Outpatient prescription drug coverage is not a Medicare covered benefit. Debate continues in Congress and elsewhere on modernizing the Medicare benefit package, including proposals that would help the Nation's seniors pay for prescription drugs. Very little is known about which persons within the Medicare population have drug coverage from other sources. Using 1995 data from the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS), the authors present information on who has coverage by various sociodemographic categories. The data indicate higher-than-average levels of coverage for minority persons, beneficiaries eligible for Medicare because of disability, and those with higher incomes.
authors.affiliation: Office of Strategic Planning, Health Care Financing Administration, Baltimore, MD 21244, USA. jpoisal@hcfa.gov
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Poisal
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Murray
authors.forename: G S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Chulis
authors.forename: B S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Cooper
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000191:economics; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003625:Data Collection; D003710:Demography; D016527:Drug Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005382:Financing, Personal / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005102:Health Expenditures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006279:Health Maintenance Organizations / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D019458:Insurance Coverage / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007356:Insurance, Pharmaceutical Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D006278:Medicare / Q000191:economics*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011907:Rate Setting and Review; D014481:United States