The First Months of the Prescription-Drug Benefit -- A CMS Update

doi:10.1056/NEJMp068108

MEDICARE PART D

Volume 354:2312-2314		June 1, 2006		Number 22

The First Months of the Prescription-Drug Benefit — A CMS Update

Peter B. Bach, M.D., M.A.P.P., and Mark B. McClellan, M.D., Ph.D.

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Editor's note: Medicare Part D, designed to provide enhancedprescription-drug coverage for seniors, went into effect inJanuary 2006. Here we present two opposing viewpoints on howsuccessful the implementation of Medicare Part D has been todate and whether it is fulfilling its stated objective.

January 1, 2006, marked the beginning of prescription-drug coverageunder Medicare.¹ The new benefit is provided by competing "stand-alone"private drug plans that work with the traditional fee-for-serviceMedicare benefit and by plans that are part of private MedicareAdvantage programs. After the initial start-up challenges, thedrug benefit is being widely used.

Because . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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Dr. Bach is a senior adviser and Dr. McClellan the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Washington, D.C., and Baltimore.

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