Low-income Medicare beneficiaries and their experiences with the part D prescription drug benefit.

This study seeks to understand how much beneficiaries knew about the Medicare prescription drug benefit (Part D) and low-income subsidy (LIS) programs and what their experiences were with the programs. Part D enrollees who automatically qualified for the LIS were less likely to report awareness that they could switch among different plans, had lower knowledge scores, and were more likely to have medications not covered by the plan compared to beneficiaries who applied for the LIS and others who enrolled in Part D but did not receive the LIS. Communication efforts to the LIS population, particularly for beneficiaries deemed automatically eligible for the LIS, need to continually make them aware of their benefits and protections in Part D.