Eligible but not enrolled? Potential for targeting over a half-million rural Medicare beneficiaries for enrollment in the low-income subsidy prescription drug program.

The Medicare Part D outpatient prescription drug program created significant opportunities for low-income Medicare beneficiaries to receive subsidies to participate in the program and lower their out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs. Over 12.5 million beneficiaries are believed to be eligible (using estimates from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, CMS) for the low-income subsidy (LIS) program, and CMS estimates that over 80% of them have enrolled. This suggests that considerably more Medicare recipients could enroll in the LIS program, lowering their out-of-pocket cost burden.