Status report on Medicare Part D enrollment in 2006: analysis of plan-specific market share and coverage.
The centerpiece of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 was the Part D drug benefit, provided through new stand-alone prescription drug plans (PDPs) and Medicare Advantage prescription drug (MA-PD) plans. We examine 2006 Part D enrollment data to analyze organization- and plan-level market share and enrollment by plan type, benefit design, and gap coverage. Ten organizations captured 72 percent of Part D enrollment, primarily in low-premium plans and those with name recognition. More than twelve million Part D enrollees without low-income subsidies enrolled in plans with limited or no gap coverage in 2006, but the number with actual spending in the gap remains to be seen.
Cubanski
Juliette
J
Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Washington, DC, USA. JCubanski@kff.org
Neuman
Patricia
P
D000368:Aged; D014487:Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, U.S.; D017047:Cost Sharing; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000191:economics; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006279:Health Maintenance Organizations; D006801:Humans; D007356:Insurance, Pharmaceutical Services / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006278:Medicare / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011332:Privatization; D014481:United States