Medicare Part D Satisfaction Survey Event Recap

Last Tuesday Seniors Speak Out had our annual Facebook live event reviewing and discussing the Medicare Part D Satisfaction survey. Healthcare Leadership Council’s Medicare Today has been taking this survey every year since 2007 to gauge America’s senior’s satisfaction with Medicare and specifically Part D, Medicare’s prescription drug program. I was joined this year by Maria Ghazal, Healthcare Leadership Council’s President and CEO and Matt Monday from Morning Consult. You can watch the entire Facebook live event here.

After our introductions I started things off by offering a brief overview of the current healthcare policy landscape. I offered that the Most-Favored-Nation Prescription Drug Pricing to American Patients executive order that the President released in March would not have the positive impact he described but instead would stifle innovation and access. I pointed out that this approach would have the scary possibility of importing, what I think, is the most dangerous ways of determining access, the Quality-Adjusted Life Year (QALY). We talked about this access determining algorithm later in the webinar. I went on to encourage lawmakers to recognize the significance of what seniors’ think are important, affordable, accessible, innovative drugs. I then turned the time over to Matt Monday.

Matt stated that this survey, using the input from just over 1,000 seniors, was produced to gauge their feelings about their Medicare healthcare experience, their perceptions concerning their Part D coverage, as well as how drug prices are set abroad and how that might affect drug prices here in the U.S. He detailed that they found that 93% of seniors are satisfied with their Medicare coverage, 91% satisfied with their Part D plans and without these programs their healthcare costs would be higher. He said that seniors are concerned with how policy changes could impact this program especially the Executive Oder mentioned above. Matt pointed out that other surveys they have taken have shown that seniors are not pleased with the administration’s approach to their healthcare.

I asked Matt a few questions about seniors’ perception of Part D over the years and how they look at this year’s MFN approach and the Inflation Reduction Act from last year. He said that seniors don’t want the government to interfere with a program that is working, they are worried it could have long range impacts. I also asked him about the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan (MPPP) question that was on the survey. This program allows a person to spread the cost of expensive drugs over 12 months. I wrote a blog on this program and the survey brought out the fact that very few people knew about this great plan. I encouraged people to contact their State Health Insurance Assistance Program people who can help them take advantage of this great program. I then turned the time over to Maria Ghazal.

Maria introduced herself and the Healthcare Leadership Council (HLC) pointing out that HLC consists of CEOs from all sectors of healthcare who, for more than 35 years, have worked to develop and advocate for consensus-based solutions to improve outcomes for patients. She pointed out that HLC is actively working on current issues like cybersecurity and the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare. She pointed out how important this survey is since it gives us a gauge on how seniors feel about their healthcare. She agreed that everyone wants to reduce the cost of healthcare, but it can’t come at the expense of limiting access or stifling innovation. She stated how important the MPPP program is to seniors. It is an effective and compassionate approach to Part D costs.

We then got into some questions for Maria. I first asked her what she thought was the most important takeaway from the survey. She said that it highlighted how closely seniors follow what the government does or proposes to do with their healthcare and how concerned they are with the different pricing schemes that have been proposed. I went on to ask her if seniors had a reason to be concerned about these price controls. She said absolutely! Seniors know that adopting pricing methods used by foreign nations affects them, it’s not theoretical to them, when it affects access, it becomes personal. She reminded us that if the U.S. decided to use this type of pricing method it would most likely be first implemented in Part D. I then got my soapbox about how many foreign countries use QUALY to prioritize where they spend their healthcare money. I won’t go into great depth here but it’s worth watching the webinar just to see me get a little crazy about the possibility of QUALY finding its way into our healthcare. It’s simply a nonmedical unpersonal way to ration healthcare.

I then asked Maria how seniors could voice their concerns. She said that calling their lawmaker’s office or sending an email does make a difference and added that everyone should also encourage their families and friends to be heard. It’s not necessary to have talking points just speak from their heart. I encouraged seniors to use the findings from this survey to show lawmakers that they’re not the only ones that feel this way.

Finally, I asked Maria how HLC felt about the MPPP. She pointed out that HLC was around when Part D was passed and realized how important implementation was to the success of that program and they worked hard on its implementation. She committed that HLC will be involved, even partnering with other organizations, in educating seniors about this great program. She said it was an opportunity to tell their lawmakers something they don’t hear very often – that you liked something they did. I then thanked everyone for joining me in this Facebook live event.

I encourage to click here to see the webinar in its entirety, there really was some good information. You can also go here to find out more about the senior satisfaction survey.