Most seniors now have drug coverage, U-M s...( employer-provided drug coverage but p...),Health

Equally importantly, the researchers were able to show that the most common reason people chose not to obtain prescription drug coverage was that they used few or no drugs.

The study also asked people about the difficulty of the decision process, and whether they were confident that they had made a good choice. Only about one in six people reported that their decision about whether to sign up for Part D was very or somewhat difficult. The vast majority said the decision was not very difficult or not difficult at all. The majority of Part D plan enrollees (69 percent) reported feeling very or somewhat confident about having made the right decision, and 86 percent of them planned to sign up again the following year.

While Levy and Weir caution that their analysis is preliminary, the findings indicate that despite widespread criticisms, the Part D plan has succeeded in boosting drug coverage for U.S. seniors, especially for those who need it most. "Fewer than 10 percent of seniors lack drug coverage now," Weir said. "And those with worse self-reported health and higher use of prescription drugs in 2004 were more likely than others to sign up."

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Contact: Diane Swanbrow
swanbrow@umich.edu
734-647-9069
University of Michigan
9-Aug-2007