The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) added prescription drug coverage to Medicare (Medicare Part D), beginning on January 1, 2006. Medicares elderly and disabled beneficiaries can enroll in private plans that contract with Medicare to provide the drug benefit.People on Medicare can obtain the Medicare drug benefitthrough two types of private plans. Beneficiaries can join a prescription drug plan (PDP) for drug coverage only and get their other Medicare benefits through the fee-for-service program, as the majority of people with Medicare currently do. Alternatively they can join a Medicare Advantage (MA) plan, such as an HMO or regional PPO, that covers drugs and all other Medicare benefits. Private plans can operate in one or more of 34 PDP regions and 26 MA regions nationwide.
For more information, visit Kaiser''s Resources on the Medicare Drug Benefit, available at http://www.kff.org/medicare/rxdrugbenefit.cfm.

Mathematica Policy Research analysis of the CMS Prescription Drug Plan Landscape file.
For more information including regional level data, visit Kaiser's Medicare Health and Prescription Drug Plan Tracker at http://healthplantracker.kff.org/topicresults.jsp?i=34&rt=2.

PDPs: Prescription Drug Plans.
Lowest premium plans refer to the lowest premium plan offered by each sponsoring organization in a region. Other refers to all other plans (i.e. plans that are not the lowest premium) offered by a sponsoring organization in a region.