Designing a Medicare prescription drug benefit: issues, obstacles, and opportunities

Abstract

We review the policy concerns underlying some of the most contentious issues that must be resolved prior to the enactment of a Medicare drug benefit. We consider critical issues both in benefit design-targeted versus universal eligibility, benefit subsidies, and benefit comprehensiveness--and in benefit administration, focusing especially on issues involving the administration of the drug benefit in traditional Medicare. Despite the apparent contentiousness of the drug benefit debate, alternative proposals may not be so far apart on these issues.