Congress should resist efforts to undo recent changes to the Medicare Part D coverage gap (“donut hole”) in the Bipartisan Budget Act (BBA) if the will raise premiums for Part D beneficiaries and costs for taxpayers.
The changes in the BBA save money for Medicare beneficiaries through lower premiums and for taxpayers by increasing manufacturer discounts for brand name drugs in the donut hole and extending discounts to “biosimilar” versions of high priced biotech drugs.