Watch live: Bang for Your Buck – Get the Most from Your 2025 Medicare Drug Benefits

With Medicare prescription-drug benefits on the brink of major changes in 2025, beneficiaries who hope to minimize their costs at the pharmacy counter need to stay vigilant in the coming months.

What do you need to know for this fall’s Medicare open-enrollment period, which runs from October 15 through December 7? 

The changes coming with the new year – including a $2,000 cap on out-of-pocket prescription-drug costs and a new program designed to help enrollees spread out their medication costs over the course of the calendar year – may look straightforward on the surface, but they come with some wrinkles. 

For example, the new Medicare Prescription Payment Plan will help beneficiaries spread their out-of-pocket costs into monthly installments with no interest or fees. However, to sign up for the payment plan, enrollees must contact your Part D insurance plan at least 24 hours before you pick up your prescription at the pharmacy counter.

Second, Medicare is finished with the first round of drug price negotiation, but the method for how the program is determining the value of selected prescription drugs remains a black box. With the second round of negotiation coming up, how can beneficiaries weigh in with policymakers? 

Join The Hill for all you need to know and more with Open Enrollment experts, policymakers, and advocates.  

LOCATION
Washington, D.C., and streaming nationwide

DATE & TIME
Tuesday, October 22
7:45 AM ET Registration & Networking
8:30 AM ET Programming begins
10:00 AM ET Programming concludes

Speakers:

• Tom Kornfield, Founder & CEO, MAST Health Policy Solutions
• Amy Niles, Chief Mission Officer, PAN Foundation 
• Bruce Pyenson, Former Principal & Consulting Actuary, Milliman; Former Commissioner, MedPAC
• Dr. Gary Puckrein, President and CEO, National Minority Quality Forum
• Julia Schreiber, Program Director, Maryland Department of Aging; Administrator, Maryland State Health Insurance Assistance Program

*Additional speakers to be announced.

Sponsor Perspective:

• Adina Lasser, Public Policy Manager, Alliance for Aging Research

Moderator:

• Bob Cusack, Editor in Chief, The Hill