The overall projected cost of the Medicare prescription drug benefit is $117 billion lower over the next 10 years than was estimated last summer due to the slowing of drug cost trends, lower estimates of plan spending, and higher rebates from drug manufacturers, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reported on Jan. 31. Compared with original Medicare Modernization Act (MMA) projections, the net Medicare cost of the new drug benefit is $243.7 billion (or 38.5 percent) lower over the 10-year period (2004-13) used to score the MMA, according to FY09 budget documents that will be released next week.
Moreover, following the third open enrollment season for the prescription drug program, there are 1.5 million more enrollees in Part D, bringing the total number of beneficiaries enrolled in Part D to 25.4 million. The total number of Medicare beneficiaries with drug coverage is now about 39.5 million. In addition, recent independent surveys indicate that beneficiaries’ satisfaction with the Part D benefit is at more than 85 percent. Read the press release.
