MedPAC June Report Highlights PDP Stability, Supplemental Benefits Concerns

Jun 18
Jun 18, 2025

In its June 2025 Report to the Congress, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) emphasized the importance of maintaining competition between Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug (MA-PD) plans and stand-alone Prescription Drug Plans (PDPs), which offer an alternative drug coverage option to those who wish to remain in fee-for-service (FFS) Medicare. It also expressed continued concern about the lack of insight into the utilization and value of supplemental benefits, on which MA plans will spend an estimated $39 billion this year alone.

During MedPAC’s April meeting, commissioners discussed the urgency of needing to come up with recommendations to level the playing field between MA-PD and PDP, which they argued is essential to maintaining beneficiary choice. PDP availability has declined in recent years, with the average number of PDPs available hitting its lowest this year since the program’s inception. That’s partly due to Part D changes resulting from the Inflation Reduction Act, such as increased plan liability in the catastrophic coverage phase that is harder for PDPs to absorb without the flexibility of managing costs on the medical side.
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Lauren Flynn Kelly

Lauren has been covering health business issues since the early 2000s and specializes in in-depth reporting on Medicare Advantage, managed Medicaid and Medicare Part D. She also possesses a deep understanding of the complex world of pharmacy benefit management, having written AIS Health’s Radar on Drug Benefits from 2004 to 2005 and again from 2011 to 2016. In addition to her role as managing editor of Radar on Medicare Advantage, she oversees AIS Health’s publications and manages the health editorial staff. She graduated from Vassar College with a B.A. in English.