Date of Award
1-1-2020
Document Type
Open Access Thesis
Degree Name
Medical Doctor (MD)
Department
Medicine
First Advisor
Amy J. Davidoff
Abstract
The original Medicare Part D benefit included a gap in coverage, commonly known as the “doughnut hole,” where beneficiaries were responsible for 100% of drug costs. The Affordable Care Act included provisions to gradually close this gap, beginning in 2011, in order to reduce the financial burden of drug spending for Part D enrollees. Using a nationally representative survey of Medicare beneficiaries, we examined the effect of this policy on out-of-pocket drug spending and medication affordability. We found that the policy was associated with a decrease in out-of-pocket spending. However, this trend was limited to relatively healthy enrollees in stand-alone Part D plans. Surprisingly, measures of medication affordability worsened after closure of the coverage gap. These results highlight persistent problems of medication affordability in the Part D program and underscore the need for policy makers to further address the financial burden posed by medication costs.
Recommended Citation
Klebanoff, Matthew Jordan, "Decline In Medication Affordability Despite Closure Of The Medicare Part D Coverage Gap" (2020). Yale Medicine Thesis Digital Library. 3923.
https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/ymtdl/3923
