Medicare Monday: Medicare Part D Helps Reduce Spending in Parts A and B, Too

Last week, we talked about how Medicare Part D helps seniors live better by facilitating access to needed medicines and helping to avoid the use of more costly medical services. What we didn’t cover is how adherence to diabetes medicines also reduced spending for Medicare Parts A (hospital services) and B (medical services).

According to a recent study published in Health Services Research, Medicare Part D enrollees with diabetes who newly initiated treatment (with statins and ACEIs/ARBs) and were adherent to their medicines saved the Medicare program between 15 and 20 percent per month in spending on services in Parts A and B in the second year following the initiation of treatment. What’s more – the estimated savings exceeded the cost of the medicines studied.

This study offers additional evidence of how Medicare Part D is helping save money for patients and the health care system and Medicare as a whole. We’ve heard countless stories from individuals across the country who are incredibly grateful to the program for providing access to the diabetes medicines they need. Jan, who lives in Tennessee, relies on the program to help her manage diabetes, and without it, she says she would not be able to afford her medications. Paul, Patricia and Phyllis also rely on Part D for access to medicines that help them manage their diabetes.

We will continue to address how the Part D program helps individuals with various chronic conditions in the coming weeks. Next week, we’ll look at Parkinson’s disease, and we hope you will check back often and follow the #MedicareMonday hashtag for more!

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