Private competition in Medicare Part D is working. By allowing these private benefit plans to compete for members and negotiate prices, costs are being driven down for consumers and Medicare. According to analyses by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS):
• The average premiums for the drug benefit coverage have fallen to $22 a month for this year. A 40% decrease than the coverage was projected to cost. CMS contributes this cost savings to strong competition and more beneficiary choices for the plans that work best for them.
• CMS reports that on average, beneficiaries also are saving nearly $1,200 annually on their drug costs.
• The total Medicare drug benefit cost $13 billion less in its initial year of 2006 than was budgeted for.
• The long term savings for Medicare are also greater. With CMS actuaries predicting a total cost over the span of 2004-2013 to be 30% lower, $189 billion less, than originally predicted before implementation.

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Title: Part D Negotiations
Approximate Word Count: 1019
Approximate Pages: 5 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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