Surviving and thriving in the medicare part D market. Long-term partnerships can help health plans meet requirements.

The Medicare prescription drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) is the largest push of government-funded health care into the private insurance market in Medicare's history. The Part D prescription drug benefit has garnered recent headlines due to the large number of seniors interested in-and a few confused by-the program. But if some seniors are flummoxed by Part D, many private insurers are equally perplexed by the complexities of marketing and administering these programs.