PAN joins letter asking for Congressional report to include language about the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan
The PAN Foundation joined 55 other healthcare advocacy groups in a letter to the Subcommittee of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies asking them to include report language in the Fiscal Year 2025 Labor, Health, and Human Services Subcommittee report regarding the implementation of the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan (MPPP) to ensure beneficiaries receive the full benefit of the program.
The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan will allow beneficiaries the option to “smooth” their Part D out-of-pocket costs, which means paying their prescription drug costs in installments over the course of a plan year. Since this is an opt-in benefit and patients will not be able to opt-in at the point-of-sale, significant outreach and education efforts will be necessary to educate beneficiaries about the program.
Because smoothing is set up as a voluntary program and beneficiaries must reenroll each year, it is critical that its availability and benefits are clearly communicated, especially to patients with high prescription drug costs. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) must implement robust outreach and education efforts to ensure that patients are aware they can voluntarily enroll in the smoothing program.
The suggested report language also underscores that CMS should collaborate with pharmacies to educate beneficiaries about smoothing, since the law requires plan sponsors to notify pharmacies when patients will likely benefit from opting in to smoothing based on their out-of-pocket costs.
Read our letter and supporting materials here:
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