Medicare Part D: More Likely to Pay More
According to a new study of 16,000 Medicare beneficiaries, users of the Part D program are more likely to pay over $300 a month for medicines than those on other plans.
From Bloomberg News:
Eight percent of senior citizens in the U.S. government's Medicare plans spent that much out-of-pocket for drugs, compared with 5 percent of those covered by workplace insurance or by the Veterans Affairs Department, according to a survey published today on the Web site of the journal Health Affairs. Medicare recipients were also more likely to delay or forgo filling prescriptions because of the cost.About 24 million elderly Americans have signed up for Medicare's Part D drug coverage since it took effect last year, and surveys have found high satisfaction among participants. The lobbying group AARP and Democrats in Congress have pressed for legislation requiring Medicare to negotiate drug prices directly with manufacturers in an effort to bring down costs.
As a result, the study concluded, Part D offered "less financial protection" than the Veterans Affairs program. One reason might be that the Veterans Affairs program allows the government to negotiate.
