Voices of Beneficiaries: Medicare Part D Insights and Observations One Year Later

Publication Date: December 2006

Publisher: Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation

Author(s):

Research Area: Health

Type: Report

Coverage: Maryland Florida

Abstract:

This report describes the views and experiences of 35 Medicare beneficiaries under the new drug benefit in advance of the 2007 open enrollment period. The report finds that drug plan enrollees generally say that they are satisfied with their drug coverage and have not encountered major difficulties using their plan. At the same time, many of them don't fully understand how their plan works even after almost a year of experience with this new benefit.

The report is the third from a year-long series of one-on-one structured interviews with a diverse group of Medicare beneficiaries in four cities: Baltimore, Miami, Sacramento, and Lincoln, Nebraska. The Kaiser Family Foundation commissioned Lake Research Partners and American Viewpoint to conduct these interviews.