Less than a week after unveiling the details of a test program for the Medicare Advantage Plan, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has announced a new pilot model for the Medicare Part D drug program.
The Part D Enhanced Medication Therapy Management model will give selected Medicare Prescription Drug Plans flexibility to design programs to improve health and lower costs, CMS announced Monday.
Participating plans will work with their network pharmacy providers and local prescribers to identify enrollees whose medication use could cause adverse outcomes or significant non-drug program costs, according to CMS.
[Also: CMS signals tight controls for value-based Medicare Advantage plan]
As with the new value-based Medicare Advantage model, the new drug plan will begin January 1, 2017 for five years in selected areas. The five test regions include: Virginia; Florida; Louisiana; one region that includes Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming; and Arizona.
Stand-alone prescription drug programs in these regions can apply to vary the intensity and types of medication therapy management interventions they offer. CMS will waive current program requirements.
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Beneficiaries who are identified will be contacted by their drug plans, pharmacists, or prescribers and offered assistance on their medication use.
New flexibility in Medicare Part D is designed to improve compliance with medication protocols, including high-cost drugs; reduce medication-related problems, such as duplicative or harmful prescription drugs, or suboptimal treatments; increase patients' knowledge of their medications; and improve communication among prescribers, pharmacists, caregivers and patients.
A webinar on the Enhanced Medication Therapy Management model will be held on October 21.
Twitter: @SusanMorseHFN