Improving Medicare in 2011: Closing the Donut Hole
The Affordable Care Act takes steps to close the gap in prescription drug coverage under Medicare known as the donut hole.
Improving Medicare in 2011: Closing the Donut Hole
2011 brings more relief for people on Medicare with high prescription drug bills. Anyone with Medicare prescription drug coverage whose drug costs push them into the coverage gap, also known as the donut hole, will get 50 percent discount on all covered brand-name prescription drugs they buy. And in 2011,they’ll get 7 percent off the cost of all generics. DONALD BERWICK: There are 28 million people covered under the Part D program, and we know that about 15% of them at least hit the donut hole, and yes, unfortunately a substantial number of those patients find that they just can’t afford the drugs they need. The Affordable Care Act allowed us last year to begin to help seniors in the donut hole. Last year we mailed out 3.5 million checks to beneficiaries in the donut hole. $250 checks, tax-free. That helped them to afford the drugs that they needed. The donut hole closes gradually between now and 2020 as we progressively increase the discounts that seniors get on their drugs until finally by 2020 there is no donut hole. The proportion that seniors are paying is exactly the same as when they start. SENIOR WOMAN: These are real savings for millions of seniors and people with disabilities who have Medicare drug plans. And it means you’ll be out of the donut hole that much sooner. You can find more information on the new health care law and how it affects you on HealthCare.gov and Medicare.gov.
NOTE: The transcript for this program may have been compiled from uncorrected Closed Captioning.
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