The administration’s proposed Medicare Part D rule, released in January 2014 will have a far-reaching and harmful impact on beneficiaries enrolled in the popular prescription drug program. The most damaging to plan enrollees is CMS effectively doing away with preferred networks in Part D, which negotiate prices that are key to keeping monthly premiums and drug prices low. This decision could force as many as 14 million enrollees out of their current plans, and into a new, higher cost plans.

The map and table below display, respectively, the percent and total number of Medicare beneficiaries in each state that are at risk of losing their drug coverage in 2015, if the rule is allowed to go into effect.

Percentage of Medicare Beneficiaries at Risk of Losing Part D Plan

 

State	Medicare Beneficiaries in Preferred Network Plans
Alabama	249,530
Alaska	21,006
Arizona	233,826
Arkansas	174,711
California	1,200,074
Colorado	181,349
Connecticut	170,142
Delaware	68,294
District of Columbia	27,004
Florida	1,007,077
Georgia	425,401
Hawaii	17,431
Idaho	61,975
Illinois	76,1137
Indiana	401,452
Iowa	177,282
Kansas	211,465
Kentucky	297,432
Louisiana	167,474
Maine	132,415
Maryland	285,479
Massachusetts	342,840
Michigan	537,086
Minnesota	172,809
Mississippi	209,577
Missouri	330,673
Montana	56,988
Nebraska	112,141
Nevada	102,284
New Hampshire	102,747
New Jersey	446,486
New Mexico	71,173
New York	659,179
North Carolina	572,525
North Dakota	41,265
Ohio	490,416
Oklahoma	198,138
Oregon	124,151
Pennsylvania	515,000
Rhode Island	50,690
South Carolina	270,856
South Dakota	56,795
Tennessee	328,983
Texas	946,557
Utah	58,482
Vermont	50,528
Virginia	412,826
Washington	240,145
West Virginia	115,704
Wisconsin	231,236
Wyoming	36,342

Data Sources 

United States of America. Health and Human Services. Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. PDP Enrollment by State County Contract. N.p.: n.p., 2014. Web. <http://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Statistics-Trends-and-Reports/MCRAdvPartDEnrolData/Monthly-PDP-Enrollment-by-State-County-Contract-Items/PDP-Enrollment-by-SCC-2014 01.html?DLPage=1&DLSort=1&DLSortDir=descending>. 

“Total Number of Medicare Beneficiaries.” State Health Facts. Kaiser Family Foundation, 2012. Web. <http://kff.org/medicare/state-indicator/total-medicare-beneficiaries/#table>.