Study to Assess the Impact of Transitioning Medicare Part B Drugs to Part D

This task order studies the issues involved with the relationship between Part B and Part D drug coverage. The Secretary's 2005 Report to Congress on Transitioning Medicare Part B Covered Drugs to Part D, mandated under the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA), suggested that there were a limited number of categories of drugs where it might be beneficial to consolidate coverage under one program. However, the Secretary recommended, given the complexity of the issues, that further analyses would be necessary once Medicare had at least two years of experience with the new prescription drug program. This study aims to better understand the financial and programmatic impacts of consolidating certain categories of similar drugs under one program.