title: The Medicare Part D drug benefit: lessons from the experience with drug discount cards.
abstract: The Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 provides federal assistance to eligible beneficiaries by paying for their prescription medications. While the full program will be implemented in January 2006, a transitional drug discount card program has been ongoing since mid-2004. This paper reviews some of the operational details of that program and the hurdles created by the complexity of the program. By carefully looking back on these hurdles, perhaps one can anticipate some of the problems that will likely be encountered when the full program is implemented and assist patients in realizing its maximum benefits.
authors.affiliation: College of Pharmacy, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA. doering@shands.ufl.edu
authors.forename: Paul L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Doering
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D014487:Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, U.S.; D017046:Cost Savings; D016527:Drug Costs; D004345:Drug Industry; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000191:economics*; D004608:Eligibility Determination; D006801:Humans; D007356:Insurance, Pharmaceutical Services / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006278:Medicare / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D017008:Negotiating; D011306:Prescription Fees; D016730:Program Development; D014481:United States