Medicare spent $97 billion on prescription drugs in 2014, accounting for more than a quarter of the nation’s spending on prescription medicines. Those numbers are expected to continue rising in coming years, as spending on the Part D benefit accelerates. Policymakers have put a number of proposals on the table to reduce the growth in Medicare drug spending and costs for beneficiaries, including a controversial proposal that would change the way Medicare pays for Part B drugs administered by doctors.

On Wednesday, September 7, from noon to 1 p.m. ET, the Kaiser Family Foundation hosted a web conversation to discuss trends in Medicare prescription drug spending, as well as proposals to reduce costs and forecasts of what beneficiaries can expect in coming years.

Tricia Neuman, senior vice president and director of the Foundation’s Program on Medicare Policy and its Project on Medicare’s Future, moderated the discussion.

Panelists included:

• William K. Fleming, PharmD, president, Humana Pharmacy Solutions
• Richard Frank, Margaret T. Morris Professor of Health Economics, Harvard Medical School
• Jamey Millar, senior vice president, managed markets and government affairs, GlaxoSmithKline
• Leigh Purvis, director of health services research, AARP Public Policy Institute