The amount a typical Medicare Part D prescription drug plan enrollee pays might increase about 3 percent in 2016.
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The average drug plan base beneficiary premium is on track to rise 2.9 percent next year, to $34.10 per month, according to a comparison of the new 2016 cost numbers with comparable figures for 2015 published about a year ago.
Sean Cavanaugh, director of the Center for Medicare, an arm of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, gave the figures in a memo addressed to Medicare Advantage organizations and Medicare prescription drug plan sponsors.
The federal government uses tax revenue to pay part of the cost of Medicare drug coverage, and the enrollees pay the rest of the cost.
The total national average monthly bid amount, or the total amount that the plan issuers hope to get paid, is on track to fall 7.9 percent, to $64.66.