|
E-mail this page to a friend!
Medicare Drug Program Costing Everyone Less Than
Expected
Feb. 2, 2006 - Medicare’s new drug coverage will
have significantly lower premiums for beneficiaries and lower costs to federal taxpayers
and states, as a result of stronger than expected competition in the
prescription drug market and lower drug costs, CMS Administrator Mark B.
McClellan announced Thursday.
| |
Related Stories |
|
| |
'These are Our Problems to Solve,' Declares HHS
Secretary in Medicare Drug Benefit Progress Report
Feb. 2, 2006 – New estimates released yesterday by
Health and Human Services show the costs of the Medicare drug benefit
are significantly less than expected. In a one-month progress report,
Secretary Mike Leavitt also said HHS and the Medicare drug plans are
taking actions to improve the drug programs performance. "We make no
excuses. These are our problems to solve," he said in releasing the
report. Read more...
Bush Says He Will Fix Medicare Drug Program
President wants bipartisan solution to Medicare,
Medicaid, Social Security
Feb. 2, 2006 – President Bush, speaking in
Nashville yesterday, followed up with some details concerning healthcare
that were not covered in the State of the Union. He said he will address
the problems in the Medicare prescription drug program and called for a
bipartisan solution to the financial problem of Medicare, Medicaid and
Social Security, according to the Daily Health Policy Report by
KaiserNet.org. Read
more...
Read more on
Medicare Drug Program |
|
Beneficiary premiums are now expected to average
$25 a month – down from the $37 projected in last July’s budget
estimates – and the overall cost to taxpayers for 2006 will drop 20
percent over the July 2005 estimate, according to the CMS Office of the
Actuary.
The savings result from lower expected costs per
beneficiary; projected enrollment in the drug benefit has not changed
significantly.
“Our report shows that the cost of the program
will be about 20 percent less in 2006,” HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt said.
“Costs are going down even as enrollment is going up. This is good news
for seniors, taxpayers and the Medicare program.”
“The new drug coverage is the most important new
benefit in Medicare in 40 years, and as a result of strong competition
in the prescription drug marketplace, it will cost much less than had
been expected,” Dr. McClellan said.
“With lower prices, more use of generic drugs, and
other effective steps to slow down drug spending, the winners are the
beneficiaries and the taxpayers.”
The net cost to the federal government for the drug
coverage in 2006 is expected to be $30.5 billion down from a previously
estimated $38.1 billion.
The actual or “net” costs to the Federal
government, accounting for Medicaid savings, are also significantly
lower over 10 years, dropping from last year’s estimated $737 billion to
$678 billion. For the 10-year period from 2006-2015, the “total”
Medicare drug benefit cost, without accounting for Medicaid savings, is
now estimated to be about $130 billion less - $797 billion compared to
an estimated $926 billion last year.
State government savings are the result of lower
phased-down contributions for the drug coverage. The state payments are
now projected to be $37 billion (27 percent) less over a 10-year
period.
The Medicare Modernization Act included the
phased-down contributions, sometimes known as “clawback” payments, to
account for a portion of the costs that states had previously paid for
Medicare beneficiaries who are also in Medicaid, because they are now
getting their drug coverage from Medicare.
As of last month, about 24 million Medicare
beneficiaries now have drug coverage, with about 3.6 million
self-enrolled in the new “stand-alone” prescription drug plans and
around 300,000 new enrollees in Medicare Advantage plans with drug
coverage.
Click here to Search SeniorJournal.com for more on
this subject
Click to More Senior News on the
Front Page
Copyright: SeniorJournal.com |
