Reports | Fact Sheet | Presentation

The New Medicare Prescription Drug Law: Implications for State Health Plans in Massachusetts

The Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 created a new drug benefit for Medicare recipients, to begin in 2006. This new law will have significant effects on the Massachusetts Medicaid program, which now provides prescription drug and other benefits to about 190,000 Medicare beneficiaries (the so-called "dual eligibles"). This policy brief identifies the key factors affecting the interaction between Medicare and Medicaid and describes the impacts – financial, programmatic and administrative – of the new drug benefit on the Medicaid program in Massachusetts.

Download pdf of Complete Report (908 K)