The new Medicare prescription drug benefit is only months away from becoming the new healthcare reality. Members of government, industry, the medical community, and beneficiary advocates are bracing themselves for the most significant changes to the Medicare program in its forty year history. Over forty million Americans will have a wide array of new choices in how they access and pay for pharmaceuticals. A never-before seen model for healthcare-stand-alone prescription drug insurance-will make its debut. And the pharmaceutical industry will experience first-hand the opportunities and challenges of an unprecedented increase in the federal government's role as a purchaser of prescription drugs.

With implementation of the drug benefit (Part D) imminent, many critical questions persist:

How will educational efforts resonate with people eligible for the benefit?
Will Medicare beneficiaries actually enroll?
What will formularies look like, and will consumers be able to discern what plan is best for them?
How will private health plans look to distinguish themselves in a competitive marketplace?
Will the benefit create new opportunities for partnerships, or seed the ground for new conflicts?
Can Part D pave the way for a more broad-based adoption of health information technology, or open new doors for how data can be harnessed to improve healthcare quality?
Will there be political ramifications for the success or failure of Part D, or for its contribution to the federal deficit?
How does Wall Street interpret the evolving policy and its effect on business?
Will the vulnerable fall through the cracks, and whose role is it to protect their interests?
The Second Medicare Congress will tackle these issues head-on in a three-day interactive forum. Keynote speakers Tom Scully, Nancy-Ann DeParle, John Iglehart, and Dan Mendelson will join leaders from a wide cross-section of healthcare, government, and the financial sector to examine the complex web of business relationships being formed, the full suite of business, regulatory, and fiduciary changes ushered in this by this dramatic shift in Medicare's structure, and the potential impact Part D may have on improving the healthcare system.

Congress Goals and Objectives:

To Provide an Overview and Analysis of the New Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit
To Provide an Update on the Status of Implementation of the Benefit Ahead of the Jan. 1 Launch Date
To Set Forth the Potential Role, Opportunities and Responsibilities of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers, PBMs, Health Plans and Providers under the New Benefit
To Assess the Financial and Budgetary Realities and Long Term Health Policy Implications of the New Benefit
To Analyze the Implications of the New Benefit on Operational and Compliance Standards in the Pharmaceutical Industry
To Analyze the Impact of the Drug Benefit on State Medicaid Programs
To Describe the Impact of the New Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit on Pharmaceutical Pricing
To Discuss the New Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit's Implications for the Pharmaceutical Sector's Financial Markets
To Analyze New Data Initiatives in the Context of the Drug Benefit, Including ePrescribing Standards and Integrated Medicare Claims Data
To Discuss The Implementation Process from the Beneficiary Perspective
To Articulate Marketing and Enrollment Strategies for Prescription Drug Plans and Medicare Advantage Plans
To Analyze the Impact of Enrollment Patterns on the Future of Part D
To Discuss the Outlook for Future Legislation Affecting Medicare
To Discuss the Impact of the New Medicare Drug Benefit on Initiatives to Improve Health Care Quality and Drug Safety
To Analyze Changes in Medicare Part B and the Future of the Competitive Acquisition Program