Medicare to Limit Insurers to Two Part D Plans in 2007

From the NAELA Weekly Newsletter:

The U. S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued a factsheet on April 3 outlining quality improvements proposed for theMedicare prescription drug plan in 2007 that says insurance companieswill be limited to two plans, unless offering plans that fill coveragegaps in the drug benefit. Insurers were allowed to offer three plansthis year, but some beneficiaries have been overwhelmed by the numberof choices, CMS Administrator Mark McClellan said. He said the two-planlimit should help simplify the drug benefit. “Two plans should besufficient,” he said. However, some insurers offering plans that fillcoverage gaps in the drug benefit might be allowed to offer threeplans, McClellan said.

Source: Senior Journal.com (4 Apr 2006)
Full story: http://www.seniorjournal.com/NEWS/MedicareDrugCards/6-04-04-MedicareTargets.htm