Medicare’s Fall Open Enrollment Period (OEP) is a busy time for beneficiaries and those who help them evaluate their health care and prescription drug coverage options. From October 15 to December 7 each year, people with Medicare can make changes to their coverage, such as switching Part D prescription drug plans, or switching between Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage. This annual decision-making process can be complex, and several changes this year are making it even more so.

A new analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) underscores these challenges. According to the report, people with Original Medicare spent an average of $5,460 out of their own pockets for health care in 2016. Nearly half of this spending was for services outside of Medicare, such as LTSS (32%) and dental care (14%). The other half was largely devoted to meeting beneficiary cost-sharing obligations, including for provider-based care (22%) and prescription drugs (21%).

In recent weeks, several committees within the U.S. House of Representatives—Energy & Commerce, Education & Labor, and Ways & Means—have been working to finalize the House’s drug pricing bill, HR 3. While the bill advanced by each committee differs slightly, the underlying goals are unchanged from the version initially introduced.

Lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives are continuing work on their drug pricing bill, H.R. 3, with hopes of holding a vote later this month.

Unveiled in September, H.R. 3 includes a number of provisions that would improve prescription drug access and affordability for people with Medicare. Among the bill’s critical reforms are those allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices; the imposition of inflationary rebates on certain drugs in Parts B and D; and a restructuring of the Part D benefit that would cap out-of-pocket costs, reduce the federal government’s liability, and better align pricing incentives.

Last week, the Trump Administration released a wide-ranging yet ambiguous Executive Order (EO) focused on the Medicare program.

Many of the EO provisions lack specifics, making it difficult to predict what, if any, policies or recommendations may emerge. Since any policies that do emerge would likely require legislative or regulatory action before taking effect, the EO’s prospects for impacting the program are also unknown.

This week, Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL) introduced a House companion to the Medicare Extra Rx HELP Act (S. 691/H.R. 4583). Championed in the Senate by Bob Casey (D-PA), this bill would make improvements to the Medicare Part D Low-Income Subsidy (LIS), commonly known as Extra Help, to better reflect current needs.

Last week, U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) released her much-anticipated drug pricing plan, the Lower Drug Costs Now Act of 2019 (H.R. 3). Top Democrats on the three committees of jurisdiction introduced the legislation—Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Energy & Commerce; Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA), Ways & Means; and Chairman Bobby Scott (D-VA), Education & Labor.

The bipartisan Beneficiary Enrollment Notification and Eligibility Simplification (BENES) Act (S. 1280/H.R. 2477) is urgently needed to modernize and streamline the Medicare Part B enrollment process. Passage this year presents an important opportunity for members of Congress to advance commonsense, low-cost reforms that are in the best interest of millions of current and future Medicare beneficiaries.

New polling from the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) explores the experiences of adults ages 65 and older with prescription medications,

A new report from the Kaiser Family Foundation examines a number of these proposed and recent changes—including those related to the Part D benefit design, the Low Income Subsidy (LIS) program, drug importation, generic drug availability, and price transparency—outlining the implications for people with Medicare and the program itself. This comprehensive resource will be updated ongoingly to reflect evolving policy discussions.