Bill > S2342

This bill, the Territories Medicare Prescription Drug Assistance Equity Act of 2015, aims to ensure that low-income individuals in U.S. territories, specifically Puerto Rico, have access to the same premium and cost-sharing subsidies for Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage as those living in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Medicare Part D is the program that helps beneficiaries pay for prescription drugs, and subsidies are financial assistance to lower out-of-pocket costs for eligible individuals. Currently, residents of these territories are excluded from certain aspects of this assistance. The bill proposes to amend the Social Security Act to remove these exclusions, making the poverty line used for determining eligibility the same for territorial residents as for those in the contiguous United States and the District of Columbia, and it would take effect on January 1, 2017.