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.
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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