New Medicare Part D Out-Of-Pocket Spending Cap is an Important Improvement for Enrollees Facing High Prescription Drug Costs

Under the Medicare Part D benefit, which provides prescription drug coverage for nearly 56 million Medicare beneficiaries, many enrollees were originally required to pay 5 percent of their prescription drug costs, with no limit, even after their out-of-pocket spending reached a certain threshold and they entered catastrophic coverage. Meanwhile, high and growing drug prices have resulted in high cost-sharing burdens for millions of older adults, sometimes leading them to engage in cost-coping strategies, such as not filling a prescription or skipping doses to save money.  ARTICLE