New Medicare Part D reforms were enacted as part of the Inflation Reduction Act—including an annual cap on out-of-pocket prescription medication costs and the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan. However, it’s clear that more education and awareness are needed among those enrolled in Medicare.
Polling from the PAN Foundation’s Center for Patient Research finds less than half (40 percent) of those surveyed in early 2025 were aware of the reforms. With familiarity remaining low, an important question must be asked: is enough being done to support and educate people with Medicare about the reforms that could benefit their out-of-pocket costs?
Patients are totally unaware of [the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan].”
– Anonymous healthcare professional when surveyed on the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan in February 2025
Background and methodology
This Center for Patient Research initiative involved two waves of data collection: the initial results (wave 1) established a baseline awareness of the Medicare reforms and the follow-up results (wave 2) sought to measure the impact of the outreach done around the reforms.
- Wave 1: The research was conducted June 6–June 25, 2024, online in the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of the PAN Foundation. Surveyed were 1,006 U.S. adults ages 18+ currently on Medicare/Medicare Advantage.
- Wave 2: The research was conducted January 6-22, 2025, online in the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of the PAN Foundation. Surveyed were 1,001 U.S. adults ages 18+ currently on Medicare/Medicare Advantage.
Key findings
Awareness
Wave 2 found that awareness of both reforms has increased by 27 percent since wave 1, with 40 percent of respondents saying they are aware of the reforms. And nearly 7 in 10 Medicare beneficiaries (66 percent) reported being interested in learning more about these reforms.
Familiarity
However, among those who are aware of the reforms, the level of familiarity remains low and relatively unchanged, with just 11 percent reporting being extremely or very familiar in wave 2.
Perception of helpfulness
The perception of the helpfulness of each reform was relatively unchanged between wave 1 and wave 2.
Medicare Part D Cap
Overall awareness of the Medicare Part D cap has increased:
- Unaided awareness—or those who weren’t given a definition of the Medicare Part D cap during the survey—was at 35 percent of Medicare beneficiaries, compared to just 11 percent in wave 1.
While awareness of the cap has increased, understanding of and perceived helpfulness of the cap has not improved.
- Similar to wave 1, over a third (36 percent) of people with Medicare who have heard of the cap don’t feel like they understand it well.
- Of those who have heard of the cap, people with Medicare are more likely to have heard about this reform from their insurer or Medicare.gov resources this wave.
Medicare Prescription Payment Plan
While awareness of the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan has also increased since June, it remains low.
- Almost no one (1 percent) surveyed reported having already opted in to the program, and three out of four (75 percent) are unlikely to do so (an increase from wave 1).
- For those unlikely to opt in, that’s primarily because they did not meet the minimum thresholds for individual or collective prescription amounts or they feel they can afford to pay for all their prescriptions at once.
In addition to awareness, understanding of the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan also remains low.
- Similar to wave 1, around two out of five (41 percent) Medicare beneficiaries who have heard of the plan don’t feel that they understand it well.
- Less than 1 in 10 (8 percent) continue to feel they understand it very well.
Poll
Were you aware of the Medicare Part D cap and Medicare Prescription Payment Plan before today?
The need for more education
Both surveys show a clear need for more education about the 2025 Medicare reforms. While there has been some progress since June 2024, there is still an information gap, with nearly 7 in 10 Medicare beneficiaries (66% percent) reported being interested in learning more about these reforms. The low levels of change in awareness and understanding from wave 1 to wave 2 shows that even those who are familiar with the reforms don’t necessarily understand them well or perceive them as being helpful.
To help people better understand and engage with these reforms, there needs to be clearer, more targeted messaging that explains the details and how the changes could benefit them, especially around the Medicare Prescription Payment Program.
That’s why the PAN Foundation launched a nationwide education campaign about Medicare reforms. This campaign includes:
- English and Spanish language explainer booklets
- Animated explainer videos
- Digital resources and more
The goal of the campaign is to help make sure patients and their healthcare professionals understand the reforms and how they may impact their own access and affordability.
If you, a patient, or a loved one want to learn more about the reforms, visit panfoundation.org/reforms.
What PAN’s community is saying
The PAN Foundation also surveyed around 500 patients and healthcare professionals within its own community to better understand their personal experience with the 2025 Medicare Part D reforms. This informal online survey found similar results to the national polling, with slightly higher rates of familiarity around the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan.
Despite differences in survey size and methodology between PAN’s informal community survey and formal nationwide polling, the community survey points to the effectiveness of PAN’s education efforts—with PAN community members displaying higher levels of awareness than the general public. While there is still a clear need for increased education around the topics, write-in responses to the community survey indicated a more positive perception of the reforms, specifically the Medicare Part D Cap.
The Medicare Part D cap has been a real lifesaver. If it didn't exist, I would have been wiped out financially!"
– Anonymous PAN grant recipient
Key highlights
- 70.8 percent of respondents were at least a little familiar with Medicare Prescription Payment Plan.
- Of those familiar with the Medicare Prescription Payment plan, people were most likely to hear about it from PAN (23.21 percent), their health plan (21.2 percent), or Medicare (18.27 percent).
- 17 percent of respondents had opted into the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan at the time of the survey.
- Of those who hadn’t opted into the plan, only 11.38 percent plan to opt in during 2025.
Share your story
If the recent Medicare reforms have impacted you, a patient, or a loved one, we want to hear your story.
Sarah’s story
Sarah Rice is a caregiver for her 87- and 92-year-old parents, who were paying $2,500 a month out of pocket for medication. Unable to afford these high medication costs, Sarah spent much of her time making phone calls and filling out paperwork to find a way to cover the costs. With the new $2,000 cap the work is taken away. A PAN grant covered the first month’s costs, and the cap means the rest of the year’s prescriptions are covered at 100%.
This gave me back time as a caregiver and allows me to focus on more important things like making sure my parents get to their appointments and worship, have a clean house, nutritious food on the table, and more.”
– Sarah Rice, caregiver and daughter to a PAN grant recipient
