Various resources and reports concerning Part D

Reports:

Kaiser Report, "Medicare Payments and Beneficiary Costs for Prescription Drug Coverage," March 2007. See http://www.kff.org/medicare/upload/7620.pdf

CHA/MRC Report, "After the Goldrush: The Marketing of Medicare Advantage and Part D Plans," January 2007. See http://www.cahealthadvocates.org/_pdf/advocacy/2007/CHA-MRC-Brief-AfterTheGoldrush-2007-01.pdf

Kaiser Report, "Seniors and Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit," December 2006. See http://www.kff.org/kaiserpolls/upload/7604.pdf

Kaiser Report, "Voices of Beneficiaries: Medicare Part D Insights and Observations One Year Later," December 2006. See http://www.kff.org/medicare/upload/7605.pdf

Kaiser Report, "Benefit Design and Formularies of Medicare Drug Plans: A Comparison of 2006 and 2007 Offerings," November 2006. See http://www.kff.org/medicare/upload/7589.pdf

CHA/MRC Report, "Getting the Runaround: Problems with Obtaining Accurate Information from Part D Plans," October 2006.  See http://www.cahealthadvocates.org/_pdf/advocacy/2006/Brief_Runaround_P5.pdf

Kaiser Report, "Beneficiary Challenges in Using the Medicare Part D Appeals Process To Obtain Medically Necessary Drugs," September 2006. See http://www.kff.org/medicare/upload/7557.pdf

Kaiser Report, "Toward Making Medicare Work for Low-Income Beneficiaries: A Baseline Comparison of the Part D Low-Income Subsidy and Medicare Savings Programs Eligibility and Enrollment Rules, Center for Medicare Advocacy," May 18, 2006. See http://kff.org/medicare/7519.cfm.

GAO Report, “Medicare Communications to Beneficiaries on Prescription Drug Benefit Could Be Improved,” May 3, 2006. See http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d06654.pdf.

Congress: New Medicare Drug Plans Fail to Provide Meaningful Drug Price Discounts, Report by Rep. Henry Waxman, House Committee on Government Reform (Nov. 2005).

Resources:

Rx Assist Patient Assistance Program Center publishes a list of Patient Assistance Programs that still assist individuals on Medicare Part D: http://www.rxassist.org/docs/medicare-and-paps.cfm.

The New Prescription Drug Bill: Choosing a Medicare Part D Plan. This article, prepared by the Center for Medicare Advocacy, discusses the factors that an individual should consider when picking a Part D plan.

The Medicare Right Canter's "Medicare Interactive Counselor" (available at http://www.medicarerights.org/help.html) is an online compendium of answers to Medicare questions written in consumer-friendly language. It’s easily navigable and useful for consumers and professionals. There is information on Part D throughout tool, but the bulk of the information can be found in Section III l. Prescription Drugs and Section VII a. Resources to Help with the Cost of Prescription Drugs (which focuses in part on Extra Help).  MRC also has a large collection of publications and fliers for consumers and professionals focused entirely on Part D which can be found at www.medicarerights.org/drughelp.html. 

Links:

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)

Social Security Administration

Center for Medicare Advocacy, Inc.