Medicare Today Chair Says Policymakers Next Year Should Protect the Stable, Affordable Prescription Drug Coverage Seniors Value

WASHINGTON – As the Biden Administration and a new Congress look for avenues next year to improve healthcare affordability, they should make it a priority to protect the flexibility and stability currently offered by the Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage program, the chairman of the Medicare Today coalition said today.Mary R. Grealy, president of the Healthcare Leadership Council and chair of Medicare Today, said that seniors are disproportionately endangered by the COVID-19 pandemic and need reliable, affordable access to the medicines prescribed by their physicians.“We should always look at ways to improve the Medicare Part D program to contain out-of-pocket costs and ensure that seniors never have to choose between buying their medicines and paying bills,” Ms. Grealy said. “But policymakers should resist any temptation to tinker with the fundamental structure of Part D. Medicare beneficiaries have benefited from a system in which private health plans compete to see which can provide the best coverage at the most affordable cost.”She pointed out that a nationwide survey of Americans 65 and older this year, performed by Morning Consult, showed that 92 percent of seniors are satisfied with their Medicare prescription drug coverage and 87 percent said their particular drug plan was providing a good value.“In these precarious times, we need to preserve a program that offers stability and affordability, along with the flexibility for seniors to choose a plan that best fits their health and financial needs,” Ms. Grealy said. “I look forward to significant debates over healthcare affordability in the coming year, but we should have universal agreement that protecting seniors’ health is sacrosanct.”