Beneficiary Choices in Medicare Part D and Plan Features in 2006

This analysis is designed to shed new light on how the Medicare prescription drug program is working by assessing the characteristics of plans chosen by beneficiaries.

To date, most studies of the Medicare Part D drug benefit have analyzed overall plan offerings and average characteristics without taking into account the enrollment choices of Medicare beneficiaries.

Here, we attempt to provide a more complete picture by weighting plan characteristics to reflect beneficiary choices, since beneficiaries have disproportionately chosen to enroll in some plans.