A California HealthCare Foundation study offers a good-news/bad-news assessment of how Medicare Part D is working for the 4.3 million Medicare beneficiaries in that state. The study found encouragement because of more extensive coverage of certain drug classes resulting from federal protections and because the ten plans into which beneficiaries previously covered by Medicaid are automatically enrolled provide similar coverage to higher cost plans. However, the study suggests policymakers and advocates should be concerned that the Medicare Part D plans offer dual-eligibles inferior coverage compared with that provided under Medicaid, and that the overall process of selecting a plan is complex. Click here to download the report.
