Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Lowered Out-of-Pocket Costs for Beneficiaries by 17% in 2006, Study Finds

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SOURCE: Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report (via Co-Cure)

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=49735

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Medicare

Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Lowered Out-of-Pocket Costs for

Beneficiaries by 17% in 2006, Study Finds

Medicare's prescription drug benefit led to a 17% reduction in

out-of-pocket costs, or $9 per month, for beneficiaries who enrolled

in the program in 2006, according to a study published online Tuesday

on the ls of Internal Medicine Web site, the Chicago Tribune

reports. For the study, G. Caleb , assistant professor of

medicine at University of Chicago Medical Center, and colleagues

compared out-of-pocket costs and the number of pills purchased by

those eligible for the benefit with those who were not eligible.

Researchers also compared health costs for individuals eligible for

Part D who enrolled in the program with those who did not sign up.

The study examined usage in the first year of the program.

According to the study, the savings amounted to an additional 14 days

of medicine for those who enrolled in the drug benefit, or a 19%

increase in prescription drug use. Researchers found that distributed

across the pool of all Medicare beneficiaries, the drug benefit

decreased out-of-pocket expenses by 13.1%, or $5 per month, and

increased prescription use by 5.9%, or by four days of pills.

said that while some might consider savings from the

benefit " insufficient and not worth the money, " other research

indicates that increased prescription drug usage might lead to fewer

physician and hospital visits, which could further decrease costs.

said, " We found that it had a modest but significant effect

on both savings and drug use, " adding, " Despite extensive debate, it

was not clear to what extent Part D would save people money or allow

them to obtain drugs they might not otherwise be able to afford. "

An " audio editorial " that accompanied the report found that the study

was insufficient because it did not examine health outcomes of the

benefit. However, the editorial attributed the shortcoming to the

federal government, which has not released Medicare claims data that

could be used to examine the quality of care beneficiaries receive

under the drug benefit, as well as whether prescription drugs are

used appropriately (Japsen, Chicago Tribune, 1/9).

The study is available online at

http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/full/0000605-200802050-00200v1

[source:

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=49735 ]