Impact of State Policies Supporting Medicare Part D for the Dually Eligible

The researchers will assess two state Medicaid policies - co-payment assistance to reduce cost sharing and beneficiary centered assignment. They will examine the impact of these policies for the dually eligible population on health outcomes (health care utilization and sentinel events), beneficiary switching among plans, continuity of drug treatment, and Medicare program costs. The researchers will compare beneficiaries in six states that provide full co-payment assistance to those states without such assistance. They will also compare beneficiaries in Maine, the only state with CMS-approved beneficiary centered assignment for dually eligible beneficiaries, to similar beneficiaries in other states. The objective of this project is to inform the Medicare program and state policymakers on the impact of the Part D benefit on dually eligible beneficiaries.