ACA and Inflation Reduction Act Impact on the Medicare Part D Donut Hole

Summary

This practice notes discusses how the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) affected Medicare Part D (also known as the Voluntary Prescription Drug Benefit Program) and briefly describes the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 on the program. Medicare Part D, which was established by Section 101 of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA), is a program available to individuals who are entitled to Medicare Part A or enrolled in Medicare Part B to give them the option of paying a monthly premium for outpatient prescription drug coverage. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) made several changes to Medicare Part D to help enrolled individuals with a potential gap in their prescription drug coverage, commonly referred to as the donut hole. In addition to allowing the federal government to negotiate certain prescription drug prices for Medicare, the Inflation Reduction Act contains several provisions that improve coverage and benefits ...