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Tracy Hampton, PhD

JAMA. 2006;295:1889.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 115 words of the full text and any section headings.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is considering limiting the number of plans offered under the Medicare prescription drug benefit next year. A memorandum by the CMS to insurers, employers, and others administering the benefit indicated that insurers may be limited to offering one "basic" and one "enhanced" plan in each region. The CMS will not make any final decisions on these plans until later this year, after receiving input from drug plan sponsors and others.

This year's coverage allows insurers to provide up to three plans per region, and because there are numerous insurers in certain areas, some beneficiaries may need to choose from among dozens of different plans.