What are regions and how were they decided?
The regions were determined by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and were based on several factors: • Eligible population and plan capacity — the regions must have a sufficient number of potential enrollees. In addition, the population size must be appropriate so plans are able to enroll and provide services to beneficiaries, especially in the start-up year. • Beneficiary consideration — CMS’s goal was to make Prescription Drug Plan (PDP) regions fit with current Medicare Advantage (MA) regions as closely as possible so that they appear transparent to beneficiaries. • Limited Variation in Prescription Drug Spending — CMS reviewed state-by-state drug spending, and sought to minimize the variation in average spending within a region. • Multiple potential plan entrants — 34 Prescription Drug Plan (PDP) regions and 26 Medicare Advantage (MA) regions. There will be at least two qualifying plans available for all beneficiaries in each region. At least one of the qualifying
The regions were determined by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and were based on several factors: • Eligible population and plan capacity – the regions must have a sufficient number of potential enrollees. In addition, the population size must be appropriate so plans are able to enroll and provide services to beneficiaries, especially in the start-up year. • Beneficiary consideration – CMS’s goal was to make prescription drug plan (PDP) regions fit with current Medicare Advantage (MA) regions as closely as possible so that they appear transparent to beneficiaries. • Limited Variation in Prescription Drug Spending – CMS reviewed state-by-state drug spending, and sought to minimize the variation in average spending within a region. • Multiple potential plan entrants – 34 prescription drug plan (PDP) regions and 26 Medicare Advantage (MA) regions. There will be at least two qualifying plans available for all beneficiaries in each region. At least one of the qualifying
