Understanding the Hidden Impacts of Medicare Part D

First, the project team will investigate the effect of subsidized drug insurance on competition between brand-name and generic manufacturers and the resulting impact on prices. This research will focus on brand‐name makers’ efforts to modify old drugs to sell under new patents (called evergreening), generic drug companies’ decisions to enter a market, and the final prices paid for a given drug. Second, the team will explore the distribution of costs under the Part D clawback provision, which allocates drug coverage costs for beneficiaries eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid between the federal government and states, and the possible effect of that provision on coverage of low‐income individuals. Third, the team will explore the expected monetary value of Part D’s subsidies for beneficiaries, using different assumptions regarding cost growth of prescription drug benefits.