Medicare drug (Part D) boosted the business of drug makers and pharmacists by 158 million prescriptions in 2006 ... reduced patient paid by 5.6%

Medicare Part D Pushed Drug Prescriptions Up 158 Million, Gov Cost by $32 Billion | Oldest, poorest spending a much greater share of their own income on premiums and health services than others |

Nov. 1, 2007 – The Medicare drug program (Part D) boosted the business of drug makers and pharmacists by 158 million prescriptions in 2006 and Medicare paid the bill of $32 billion, but a new study says the drug use and cost decrease to senior citizens was "relatively minor."

Many senior citizens already had prescription drug coverage, so the new benefit reduced the average amount paid by seniors per day of therapy by 18.4% and increased threir prescription drug use by only 13%, say researchers in a study published today in the 25th anniversary issue of the journal Health Affairs.
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Lichtenberg and coauthor Shawn Sun, a researcher at Walgreens Health Services, found that Medicare patients paid about 66 cents per day of medication therapy in September 2004.

By December 2006 - after implementation of Medicare Part D - they paid about 53 cents per day of therapy.

However, with the subsequent increase in utilization that came after Part D, researchers found that the program reduced the total amount paid by patients by only 5.6 percent.

The program increased the amount that private insurers paid by 22.3 percent.
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Medicare Beneficiaries at Highest Risk, Spending More Out Of Pocket On Health Care

A related study in the November/December issue shows that the oldest, frailest, and poorest Medicare beneficiaries are spending a much greater share of their own income on premiums and health services than others, and that out-of-pocket spending as a share of income has increased over time for the Medicare population.

Kaiser Family Foundation and University of California, Los Angeles, researchers found that median out-of-pocket spending on health care increased by 50 percent, from $1,667 to $2,501, between 1997 and 2003.

The oldest Medicare beneficiaries, those in poor health, beneficiaries with low incomes, and those living in nursing homes were more likely than other Medicare beneficiaries to spend a large share of their incomes on premiums and health care services, according to the study.

The top quarter of high-spending beneficiaries spent almost 30 percent of their income on health care. The top 10 percent spent nearly 60 percent of their income on health care. Four of 10 beneficiaries spent more than 20 percent of their income on health in 2003, researchers Patricia Neuman, Juliette Cubanski, Katherine Desmond, and Thomas Rice found.

The findings “raise important questions about how much of their incomes beneficiaries can reasonably be expected to spend on their health care and whether current out-of-pocket spending levels are affordable,” the researchers say.

They warn that the overall burden of paying for health care could continue to rise for beneficiaries, and, as a result, health care could become less affordable and accessible for all but the highest-income beneficiaries. ...