Proposed Changes to Medicare Part D Would Benefit Drug Manufacturers More Than Beneficiaries
Earlier this year, Congress made changes to the Medicare prescription drug benefit program, or Part D, to lower spending for both beneficiaries and the federal government. Congress increased the size of the discount on brand-name drugs that manufacturers are required to offer beneficiaries who are in the Part D coverage gap, or “donut hole,” from 50 percent to 70 percent. The donut hole, in which Medicare beneficiaries who have spent over a certain amount must pay all their drug costs out of pocket, was designed to help contain federal costs.
In a new To the Point post, the Commonwealth Fund’s Shawn Bishop explains that pharmaceutical manufacturers have now put pressure on Congress to make two changes: 1) roll back the 70 percent discount to 63 percent, and 2) block an increase in the amount beneficiaries must spend in the donut hole before catastrophic coverage kicks in.
"These proposals would financially benefit drug manufacturers more than Medicare beneficiaries,” Bishops says, adding that the federal government would also spend more to cover the savings to beneficiaries and manufacturers.
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