Consultants: Medicare Part D Works

The Medicare Part D prescription drug plan seems to be doing a good job of helping enrollees.

Analysts at the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, Washington, make that observation in a comment on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recent Part D program 2012 bidding results announcement.

Competition among would-be plan providers was strong, and the average monthly Medicare drug plan premium will fall to about $30 in 2012, from an average of $30.76 this year, the analysts say.

The projected 2012 premium is 44% lower than experts were projecting in 2003, when President Bush signed the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003, the analysts say.