SENIORS WILL SAVE MORE MONEY ON PART D RXs IN 2007

The prescription drug savings available to seniors under the Medicare Part D benefitwill be even greater next year than in 2006, according to a new analysisreleased by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

The analysis found that "beneficiaries with common chronic conditions enrolledin Medicare prescription drug plans will see significant and, in many cases,increased savings in their prescription drug costs for the coming year."

During the program's initial year, prescription costs for seniors enrolled in Part Dincreased at a slower rate than the cost of drugs overall, according to the CMSanalysis. For 2007, "many plans [will be] offering larger price discounts and greateroverall savings off of retail prices," said agency analysts.

Compared with what individuals with Medicare would pay without prescriptiondrug coverage, the beneficiaries in the CMS study will save an average53% off the costs of their current prescription drugs in 2007, upto a maximum of 68% through the lowest-cost plans available,the analysis concluded.

"Even those choosing from a range of lower-cost plans can saveup to 65% annually in 2007, up from 52% at the end of 2006," saidthe analysts. Medicare officials expect that increased informationavailable to Part D beneficiaries will help reduce Rx costs next year.