Summary
Wynne Health Group has developed a side-by-side analysis of three major Medicare Part D reform proposals. The proposals we examined are:
- The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC)’s June 2019 Report to Congress Chapter on Reforming the Medicare Part D Benefit Structure;
- The 2018 Policy Proposal from the American Action Forum (AAF) on Reforming Medicare Part D; and,
- The Draft Bill Text for the House Energy and Commerce (E&C) and Ways & Means (W&M)’s Medicare Part D Proposal.
Overall, the plans share many of the same prominent features, including a hard out-of-pocket cap on beneficiary cost sharing. In addition, all three plans recommend lowering Medicare’s liability in the catastrophic phase of the benefit. Last, both MedPAC and AAF recommend requiring manufacturers to provide discounts and rebates in the catastrophic phase. The W&M proposal does not currently feature this component, though the Committee did specifically request stakeholder comment on how manufacturers’ liability should change given the potential reforms to the catastrophic phase.