Smoothing the access road to treatment for Medicare Part D beneficiaries
By Xcenda
Over the past few months, Xcenda has been diving into the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to understand the implications of the provisions (and potentially the unintended consequences). One policy with an immediate benefit for patients is the Medicare Part D smoothing mechanism. Starting in 2025, patients will be able to smooth (spread) their out-of-pocket costs over the course of the plan year to help alleviate the burden of having to pay a high OOP cost for an initial fill. Coupled with the $2,000 annual cap on spending for Part D beneficiaries, this is a win for patients.
To gain a better understanding of the potential implications of the smoothing benefit, Xcenda compared OOP costs for a patient under the current Part D benefit and for a patient with the smoothing benefit. The monthly savings is evident, and balanced. For beneficiaries with high-cost medications, especially from fills early in the plan year, this may mean the difference between adhering to a prescribed drug and skipping a dose.
The Medicare Part D benefit is taking a major step forward to modernize and meet the needs of its growing enrollment.
Download the issue brief below to learn more about how the smoothing benefit will work for patients.
