Medicare Part D prescription coverage reduced hospital admissions and program spending by $1.5 billion a year, according to a new study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research. In the program's first four years, prescription drug insurance through Medicare Part D led to an 8 percent decrease in hospital admissions, a 7 percent drop in Medicare expenditures and a 12 percent decline in total resource use, researchers from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the University of Illinois at Chicago found. However, there is no significant link between Medicare Part D insurance coverage and mortality. Study abstract