‘Plan D’ overhaul may add to some drug bills

WASHINGTON — Some Medicare beneficiaries would face higher prescription drug costs under President Donald Trump’s budget even as the sickest patients save thousands of dollars, a complex trade-off that may make it harder to sell Congress on the plan in an election year.

In budget documents, the administration said its proposals strike a balance between improving the popular “Part D” prescription benefit for the 42 million seniors enrolled, while correcting design flaws that increase program costs for taxpayers.

Trump has made bringing down drug costs a top priority, but his administration’s plan would create winners and losers. The high cost of medicines is the leading health care concern among consumers.

Independent experts said the administration’s plan will help beneficiaries with the highest prescription drug costs, those whose individual bills reach more than $8,418 apiece.

In 2015, about 1 million Medicare beneficiaries had costs that high, which qualified them for Medicare’s “catastrophic” coverage.

Above the threshold for catastrophic coverage, patients pay only 5 percent of the cost of their medications.

That can still amount to thousands of dollars for expensive drugs.

Under the budget proposal, once seniors reach catastrophic coverage they would no longer face copayments.

But there could be more losers than winners.

About 4.5 million seniors in the group just behind those with the highest drug bills could end up spending more of their own money.

That’s because the budget proposes a change in how Medicare accounts for manufacturer discounts received by patients whose total bills range between $3,750 and $8,418.

They could wind about $1,000 more.

Also unclear is how the Trump plan interacts with changes to the Medicare prescription plan enacted by Congress last week.

Medicare’s prescription drug benefit is delivered through private insurance plans. up paying