Launched in 2006, Medicare added a prescription drug benefit that relies entirely on private plans, while, for other benefits, beneficiaries have a choice between private health plans and traditional fee-for-service Medicare.  As policymakers consider changes to Medicare that would give an even greater role to private health plans in caring for Medicare’s nearly 50 million seniors and people with disabilities, the Kaiser Family Foundation will hold a policy workshop at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, June 6, to examine how the Part D experience can inform broader Medicare reforms. 

The workshop will feature a panel of experts including James C. Capretta, fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center; Juliette Cubanski, associate director of the Foundation’s Program on Medicare Policy; Jack Hoadley, research professor at Georgetown University’s Health Policy Institute; Karen Ignagni, president and CEO of America’s Health Insurance Plans; and Marilyn Moon, senior vice president and health program director at the American Institutes for Research. Foundation Senior Vice President Tricia Neuman will moderate the discussion with the panel and audience.

Breakfast and registration begin at 9:00 a.m.

The briefing in the Foundation's Washington, D.C. office is open to the public.