government
Some Medicare drug plans to vanish
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Sept. 6, 2010
More than 3 million Medicare Part D beneficiaries may have to move into different drug plans next year because of provisions in the new health system reform law aimed at simplifying seniors' choices, according to an analysis by Avalere Health, a health care research firm in Washington, D.C.
The policy change requires drug plan sponsors to offer Part D products that have at least a $22-per-month out-of-pocket cost differential over the sponsors' basic plans. The revision is designed to eliminate lookalike plans that do not offer a significantly different set of benefits.
Avalere examined the plan offerings by region for the top 10 prescription drug plan sponsors based on February 2010 Part D enrollment to project the impact of the new reform policy.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2010/09/06/gvbf0906.htm.












