Prescription Drugs

The Latest

Families USA endorses the Physician Payments Sunshine Act (S. 301) February 2009 – The Physician Payments Sunshine Act requires drug and medical device manufacturers to publicly disclose certain gifts and payments made to physicians. More information about the act and the National Coalition for Appropriate Prescribing is available online at http://www.prescriptionproject.org/sunshine_act.

From Families USA:

Key Priorities to Help Low-Income Medicare Beneficiaries discusses three actions Congress should take to improve the Medicare Savings Programs (MSPs) and the Part D Low-Income Subsidy (LIS) as part of health reform. (May 2009)
 
Medicare: Helping Low-Income Seniors and People with Disabilities examines the high out-of-pocket costs Medicare beneficiaries face and how health reform should improve existing programs that help them afford these costs. (May 2009)

From the Center for Studying Health System Change:

Access to Prescription Drugs for Medicare Beneficiaries finds that the introduction of the Medicare prescription drug program in 2006 did little to close longstanding gaps in drug accessibility between white and African American seniors, healthier and sicker beneficiaries, and lower-income and higher-income beneficiaries. For example, in 2007, three times as many African American beneficiaries went without a prescribed medication as white beneficiaries. (March 2009)

From Health Affairs:

The Effect of Medicare Part D Coverage on Drug Use and Cost Sharing among Seniors without Prior Drug Benefits finds that seniors participating in the Part D program cut back on their medications by an average of 14 percent once they hit the “doughnut hole” coverage gap. Those who reached the coverage gap were typically people with chronic conditions who filled an average of five prescriptions per month. (February 2009) SUBSCRIPTION REQUIRED

From the Kaiser Family Foundation:

Choosing a Medicare Part D Plan: Are Medicare Beneficiaries Choosing Low-Cost Plans? uses pharmacy claims experience and premium and cost-sharing information about Medicare drug plans to examine whether seniors chose the lowest-cost plan for themselves. The analysis models the approach seniors were advised to follow in choosing a plan based on their medication regimen and found that most Part D enrollees did not choose one of the lowest-cost drug plans offered in their area. (March 2009)