United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2005-10-31 monographic deposited born digital 65 p. GA 1.13:GAO-06-78R https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-78R P0b002ee18037e5ad f:d0678r DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-78R machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-78R GAO-06-78R Beneficiaries Drugs Health care programs Medicare Monitoring Program evaluation Solicitations Prescription drugs Medicare Prescription Drug Discount Card and Transitional Assistance Program Correspondence A40682 The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) added a prescription drug benefit to the Medicare program, to become effective January 1, 2006. To assist Medicare beneficiaries with their prescription drug costs until the new benefit becomes available, the MMA also required the establishment of a temporary program, the Medicare Prescription Drug Discount Card and Transitional Assistance Program, which began in June 2004. The drug card program is designed to offer Medicare beneficiaries access to discounts off the retail price of prescription drugs. All Medicare beneficiaries, except those receiving Medicaid drug coverage, are eligible to enroll in the drug card program. Certain low-income beneficiaries without other drug coverage qualify for an additional benefit, a transitional assistance (TA) subsidy, that can be applied toward the cost of drugs covered under the drug card program. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)--the agency within the Department of Health and Human Services that administers the Medicare and Medicaid programs--administers and oversees the drug card program. The drug cards themselves are offered and managed by private organizations, known as drug card sponsors. There are different types of drug cards. General drug cards are available to all eligible beneficiaries living in a card's service area; there are both national and regional general cards. Exclusive and special endorsement drug cards are available to specific beneficiary groups. Some drug card sponsors offer more than one drug card. Congress asked us to examine CMS's implementation and oversight of the temporary drug card program. Specifically, we reviewed (1) the processes that CMS used to solicit, evaluate, and approve drug card sponsors; and (2) the processes that CMS uses to oversee drug card sponsors and the problems identified as a result of CMS oversight. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-78R/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-78R.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-78R/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-78R.pdf GAO-06-78R https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-78R Correspondence GAO-06-78R; Medicare: CMS's Implementation and Oversight of the Medicare Prescription Drug Discount Card and Transitional Assistance Program; Beneficiaries Drugs Health care programs Medicare Monitoring Program evaluation Solicitations Prescription drugs Medicare Prescription Drug Discount Card and Transitional Assistance Program Volume 117 Page 2066 117 Stat. 2066 Public Law 108-173