Reminder: the 90-day transitional period under which Medicare prescription drug plans are required to cover all necessary, existing prescriptions for beneficiaries ends March 31st. This means that CMS's mandate to provide temporary supplies of off-formulary drugs to Part D plan beneficiaries is ending and that restrictions and limits on certain drugs that plans had temporarily lifted will again be imposed. This 90-day period was from the implementation of the program and applied to all. New enrollees will continue to have a 30 transitional coverage period- the end of that time will depend on the individual’s date of enrollment.
-Adapted from “90-Day Coverage Period for Existing Medications Under Medicare Drug Benefit Expires Today”, e-mail from Kathleen E. Kehoe, MPH, PHS Community Benefits, 3/31/06.
03/06