Profiles of Medicare Beneficiaries With Medicaid Drug Coverage Prior to the Medicare Drug Benefit

Publication Date: December 2005

Publisher: Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation

Author(s):

Research Area: Health

Type: Brief

Coverage: United States

Abstract:

The Kaiser Family Foundation has commissioned Lake Research Partners and American Viewpoint to conduct a series of structured interviews with a diverse group of Medicare beneficiaries to understand their experiences as they approach and progress through the first year of the new Medicare prescription drug benefit. The goal was to interview beneficiaries with different drug coverage sources in order to capture the diversity of experiences that individuals face as they learn about Medicare’s new drug benefit and begin to make enrollment decisions.

The 34 men and women interviewed for this project range in age from 47 to 85 years old, have varying incomes and health conditions, and rely to varying degrees on
prescriptions drugs to maintain their health. The interviews are being conducted in three phases over the course of a twelve-month period. The first round of interviews was conducted between October 27 and November 16, 2005. The second round of interviews will occur in the Spring of 2006, and the final interview will take place in the Fall of 2006 to capture experiences in the first year of the Medicare drug benefit. The interviews are being conducted in four geographically diverse cities: Baltimore, Maryland; Lincoln, Nebraska; Miami, Florida; and Sacramento, California.