State Medicaid Prescription Drug Expenditures for Medicare-Medicaid Dual Eligibles: Estimates of Medicaid Savings and Federal Expenditures Resulting from Expanded Medicare Prescription Coverage

Estimates that Medicaid prescription drug coverage for approximately 6 million "dual eligibles"—low-income seniors and people with disabilities who are covered by both Medicaid and Medicare—accounts for nearly half of all Medicaid spending on prescription drugs, including both federal and state shares of Medicaid drug costs. Notes that enactment of a Medicare drug benefit could save states up to $6.8 billion annually and help them avoid cuts in Medicaid services.