Medicare Part D Drug Benefit Tips for Nurses

The Medicare Modernization and Improvement Act: The Medicare Part D Drug Benefit Tips for Nurses

Prepared by Barbara Resnick, PhD, CRNP, FAAN, FAANP and Kathleen Jett, PhD, GNP in conjunction with
The Coalition of Geriatric Nursing Organizations
The John A. Hartford Foundation Institute for Geriatric Nursing, New York University
As of July 18, 2005

A survey of older adults showed that 60% of these individuals reported taking 5 or more medications, and 16% reported taking 10 or more medications. Approximately 20% of older individuals reported that they restricted the use of their medications because of the prohibitive cost of these drugs.

In response to these concerns among others congress passed legislation which set up Medicare Part D to help meet the individual needs of the beneficiary. One thousand one hundred sixty two pages of final regulation were published in the Federal Register on January 21, 2005 to describe the details of the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit and includes the expectation that private entities (e.g. insurance plans) will form Prescription Drug Plans (PDPs). This document has been prepared to assist nurses to help older adults make informed decisions about Medicare Part D coverage.

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