Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2011 Aug;46(4):1104-23.
doi: 10.1111/j.1475-6773.2011.01273.x. Epub 2011 May 24.

The impact of Medicare Part D on out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs, medication utilization, health resource utilization, and preference-based health utility

Frank Xiaoqing Liu  1 , G Caleb Alexander, Stephanie Y Crawford, A Simon Pickard, Donald Hedeker, Surrey M Walton
Affiliations

The impact of Medicare Part D on out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs, medication utilization, health resource utilization, and preference-based health utility

Frank Xiaoqing Liu et al. Health Serv Res. 2011 Aug.

Abstract

Objectives: To quantify the impact of Medicare Part D eligibility on medication utilization, emergency department use, hospitalization, and preference-based health utility among civilian noninstitutionalized Medicare beneficiaries.

Study design: Difference-in-differences analyses were used to estimate the effects of Part D eligibility on health outcomes by comparing a 12-month period before and after Part D implementation using the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. Models adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics and health status and compared Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 and older with near elderly aged 55-63 years old.

Principal findings: Five hundred and fifty-six elderly and 549 near elderly were included. After adjustment, Part D was associated with a U.S.$179.86 (p=.034) reduction in out-of-pocket costs and an increase of 2.05 prescriptions (p=.081) per patient year. The associations between Part D and emergency department use, hospitalizations, and preference-based health utility did not suggest cost offsets and were not statistically significant.

Conclusions: Although there was a substantial reduction in out-of-pocket costs and a moderate increase in medication utilization among Medicare beneficiaries during the first year after Part D, there was no evidence of improvement in emergency department use, hospitalizations, or preference-based health utility for those eligible for Part D during its first year of implementation.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Athey S, Imbens GW. Identification and Inference in Nonlinear Difference-in-Differences Models. Econometrica. 2006;74(2):431–97.
    1. Basu A, Yin W, Alexander GC. Impact of Medicare Part D on Medicare 2013; Medicaid Dual-Eligible Beneficiaries' Prescription Utilization and Expenditures. Health Services Research. 2010;45(1):133–51. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bertrand M, Duflo E, Mullainathan S. How Much Should We Trust Differences-in-Differences Estimates? Quarterly Journal of Economics. 2004;119(1):249–75.
    1. Brazier JE, Roberts J. The Estimation of a Preference-Based Measure of Health from the SF-12. Medical Care. 2004;42:851–59. - PubMed
    1. Briesacher BA, Stuart B, Ren X, Doshi JA, Wrobel MV. Medicare Beneficiaries and the Impact of Gaining Prescription Drug Coverage on Inpatient and Physician Spending. Health Services Research. 2005;40(5, part 1):1279–96. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

Substances