The First Months of the Prescription-Drug Benefit — A CMS Update

January 1, 2006, marked the beginning of prescription-drug coverage under Medicare.1 The new benefit is provided by competing “stand-alone” private drug plans that work with the traditional fee-for-service Medicare benefit and by plans that are part of private Medicare Advantage programs. After the initial start-up challenges, the drug benefit is being widely used.Because the average beneficiary had many options, choosing a plan was often daunting, but enrollment assistance has been available through Medicare and other organizations. Of the 42 million beneficiaries eligible for drug coverage, more than 31 million were enrolled in a plan by early May 2006, including . . .