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Volume 12 Number 40 News: Part D Drug Benefit Part D Drug Benefit Many Medicare beneficiaries in private Part D insurance plans can expect the cost of their prescription drugs to change or rise during their enrollment year, Consumers Union said in a report released Feb. 28. The report recommended that Congress amend the Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 to allow beneficiaries the option of joining a new, Medicare-administered drug plan that would provide a "stable, comprehensive drug formulary with consistent costs." In addition, the law should be changed to require Medicare to negotiate directly with drug manufacturers to get lower drug prices, the report said. According to the report, Medicare Part D Plans: A Cost Rollercoaster for Seniors, 28 percent of insurance plans tracked by the group increased their costs in 2006 by 5 percent or more for a set of specific drugs. The report categorized some of the increases as "dramatic," citing a Florida plan's 32 percent increase, from $2,471 to $3,266--an increase of $795--in 2006. In 2007 a Texas plan increased its costs for the same set of drugs by $274, from $2,887 to $3,161, in just one month, the report said. Frequent Changes In addition, more than three-fourths of the plans changed their costs for the selected drugs three or more times during 2006, Consumers Union found. Beneficiaries select their plans based on their prescription needs and are locked into those choices for a year. The group based its findings on monthly prescription drug costs reported on CMS's Prescription Drug Plan Finder website. Consumers Union said it monitored five popular drugs offered by plans in five zip codes in New York, Florida, Illinois, Texas, and California from December 2005 to February 2007. Prior to the recommended changes to the 2003 statute, the group said, CMS should warn consumers that some plans increase drug costs significantly during the year and publicize the names of plans that frequently change the cost of commonly used drugs or increase costs significantly. In addition, CMS should refuse to renew contracts with plans that advertise one set of costs in the open enrollment period and then raise costs significantly during the year, according to the group. Consumers Union also recommended that beneficiaries be allowed to change plans whenever the plan increases by more than 5 percent the cost of the drugs the beneficiary selected. 'Disappointing' Results "Seniors likely expected their Medicare drug insurance plan would have predictable costs, but our sample shows some dramatic increases," Bill Vaughan, senior policy analyst for Consumers Union, said in a press release announcing the report. "What's most disappointing is we found costs going up just one month after beneficiaries locked into a plan for 2007." According to Vaughan, "The whole point of having Medicare drug insurance is to protect against the unexpected, and we're finding a lot of unexpected cost increases." More significantly, "Each time drug costs go up under these plans, seniors are pushed that much closer to the brink of the doughnut hole coverage gap," Vaughan cautioned. Consumer Union, which publishes Consumer Reports, describes itself as a nonprofit membership organization that provides consumers with information, education and counsel about goods, services, health and personal finance. The report is available on the group's website.
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