Medicare Part D Continues to Earn Strong Marks from America’s Seniors
Almost four years after the Medicare Part D prescription drug program went into effect, an overwhelming majority (88 percent) of America’s seniors approve of their individual plan and coverage. In a national survey released this morning by HLC’s nonpartisan Medicare Today coalition, 95 percent of seniors who used their plan and received prescriptions over the past year also reported that their plan has worked well, while 85 percent continue to find their monthly premium to be affordable.
The survey, conducted from October 16-25 by market research firm KRC Research, offers the latest evidence that seniors continue to see the prescription drug program as a success. The annual open enrollment period, in which Americans eligible for Medicare can add, drop or change their prescription drug coverage for 2010, begins on Sunday, November 15th, 2009.
Other key survey findings include:
• Part D satisfaction is trending upward: Overall satisfaction with the Medicare prescription drug benefit has grown from 78 percent to 88 percent, up ten percentage points since early 2006. In Florida, a state with the second highest number of Medicare beneficiaries, 93 percent of seniors reported being satisfied with their Medicare prescription drug coverage. Eighty-nine percent in New York express satisfaction.
• Seniors are getting what they expected: Eighty-seven percent of seniors report that their Medicare Part D plan is delivering what it said it would when they signed up. More than eight in 10 seniors surveyed would recommend the program to someone who is not currently enrolled.
• More than two out of three seniors say they are “better off” with Medicare Part D: Sixty-eight percent of seniors say that they are better off now than before they had the prescription drug coverage, consistent with the findings of the first survey in 2006.
The original intention behind Medicare Part D was to provide health security and the highest-quality prescription drugs at a price that seniors could afford and without question, the program has exceeded everyone’s expectations. Members of Congress should protect and strengthen programs that are working for seniors – and use the success of Medicare Part D as a model for passing comprehensive, bipartisan health reform this year.
