Drug Coverage Harder to Find for Traditional Medicare Enrollees

Declining enrollment, fewer plan offerings, and persistently higher premiums are raising concerns about the stability and viability of the market for Medicare stand-alone prescription drug plans.

Known simply as “PDPs,” the plans provide drug coverage for beneficiaries in traditional, fee-for-service Medicare. They also provide premium-free “benchmark plans” for fee-for-service beneficiaries who receive the Medicare prescription drug Low Income Subsidy. Medicare Advantage drug plans provide both medical and drug coverage for enrollees, who account for more than half of all Medicare beneficiaries.

Major insurers like Cigna Corp., Centene Corp., Aetna Inc., and Humana Inc. offer both PDPs and ...