Take-up of Medicare Part D: results from the Health and Retirement Study.
OBJECTIVE
To estimate the impact of Medicare Part D on prescription drug coverage among elderly Medicare beneficiaries and to analyze the predictors of program enrollment ("take-up") among those with no prior drug coverage.


METHODS
Multivariate analyses of data from the 2002, 2004, and 2006 waves of the Health and Retirement Study.


RESULTS
Take-up of Part D among those without drug coverage in 2004 was high; about 50%-60% of this group had Part D coverage in 2006. Only 7% of senior citizens lacked drug coverage in 2006 compared with 24% in 2004. Demand for prescription drugs was the most important determinant of the decision to enroll in Part D among those with no prior coverage. Many of those who remained without coverage in 2006 reported that they do not use prescribed medicines, and the majority had relatively low out-of-pocket spending.


CONCLUSIONS
For the most part, Medicare beneficiaries seem to have been able to make economically rational decisions about Part D enrollment despite the complexity of the program.
Levy
Helen
H
Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA. hlevy@umich.edu
Weir
David R
DR
D000368:Aged; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D017057:Medically Uninsured / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D054524:Medicare Part D / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011203:Poverty / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055553:Prescription Drugs / Q000191:economics; D011306:Prescription Fees; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
D055553:Prescription Drugs