Monday, February 27, 2006

Part D Enrollment: Just the facts, ma'am....

A new policy brief from the Kaiser Family Foundation examines the latest estimates for enrollment in Medicare’s new drug benefit. In addition, updated state-by-state enrollment breakdowns have been posted on the Foundation’s statehealthfacts.org website.

The new enrollment analysis, which assesses enrollment statistics released Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, presents five different approaches to understanding the enrollment numbers:

  • What share of the total Medicare population has creditable prescription drug coverage? In January 2005, HHS projected that 39.1 million beneficiaries would have prescription drug coverage either from the new Medicare drug benefit or another source with benefits at least as generous as Medicare’s. The latest HHS enrollment numbers show that so far 25.9 million (60%) of the estimated 43.4 million Medicare beneficiaries have creditable coverage. Of the 25.9 million beneficiaries with creditable drug coverage, 15.9 million are in Medicare drug plans and 10 million are in employer plans. Most had drug coverage prior to the start of the new benefit.

 

  • What share of the total Medicare population is enrolled in a Medicare drug plan? HHS reports that 15.9 million beneficiaries are enrolled in Medicare prescription drug plans. This total includes 6.2 million Medicare beneficiaries with Medicaid, 4.8 million Medicare Advantage enrollees, and another 4.9 million beneficiaries who signed up for one of the new stand-alone drug plans. Together, they make up 37% of the total Medicare population.
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  • How do current drug plan enrollment numbers compare to projections previously released by the Administration? In January 2005, HHS projected that 29.3 million Medicare beneficiaries would be enrolled in Medicare drug plans by the end of 2006. The 15.9 million beneficiaries currently enrolled amount to more than half (54%) of that initial enrollment target.

 

  • What share of beneficiaries voluntarily signed up for a Medicare drug plan, among those without another source of creditable drug coverage? Many Medicare beneficiaries were not expected to voluntarily sign up for a new Medicare drug plan because they already have drug coverage at least as generous as Medicare’s benefit from another source, or were automatically enrolled in a Medicare drug plan. Excluding those groups, the latest enrollment numbers suggest that 5.4 million (24%) of the 22.9 million remaining beneficiaries have voluntarily enrolled in a Medicare drug plan or newly enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan.

 

  • Among beneficiaries who lacked prescription drug coverage, how many signed up for a Medicare drug plan? This approach would be ideal for assessing how well the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 achieved the goal of providing coverage to those who were without drug coverage before the new drug benefit went into effect. However, information on the number of Medicare beneficiaries lacking prescription drug coverage in 2005 – and the enrollment decisions those beneficiaries have made – is not available.

 

Get the full report here.

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/elder_law/2006/02/part_d_enrollme.html

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