From 2007 to 2008, the average premium for Medicare Part D prescription drug plans rose by 24.5 percent from 2007 to 2008. This rise will result in an average premium price of $293 per year, or $57.70 more than last year.
A new issue brief from the Center for Economic and Policy Research, “Changes in the Costs of Medicare Prescription Drug Plans, 2007-2008 ”, examines prescription drug plan costs nationally and on a state-by-state basis and finds a surprisingly large increase in average cost going into 2008. Even though this increase is somewhat lower than originally projected, costs will exceed projections as early as 2010 if this trend continues. The brief looks at each of the 50 states and analyzes the number of plans offered in 2008, the number plans of offering coverage ‘in the gap’ between initial coverage and the catastrophic level, the number of plans dropping ‘in the gap’ coverage, and the average dollar and percentage increase in premium cost.
