Stand-Alone Drug Plans Cover a Larger Share of Medicare Part D Enrollees Living in the Most Rural Areas Than Medicare Advantage Plans

(By Juliette Cubanski, Tricia Neuman, and Anthony Damico for The Kaiser Family Foundation Published: Apr 23, 2025)

The growing role of Medicare Advantage has been a defining feature of Medicare in recent years, with Medicare Advantage plans now covering more than half of all eligible Medicare beneficiaries. While most Medicare Advantage enrollees (and most people with Medicare overall) live in urban areas, as of 2024, most Medicare beneficiaries who live in the nation’s most rural counties are enrolled in traditional Medicare, not Medicare Advantage. This means that reliance on Medicare’s stand-alone prescription drug plans (PDPs) for coverage of the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit is likely to be greater among Medicare beneficiaries living in the most rural parts of the country. Continue reading here…

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