Average savings for Iowa seniors and people with disabilities this year is $596
DES MOINES, IOWA — As a result of ObamaCare (also known as the Affordable Care Act), more than 50,000 Iowa seniors and people with disabilities have saved a total of $65 million on prescription drugs since the law was enacted. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) also released data today showing that so far this calendar year, 6,368 Iowans with Medicare saved a total of $3,799,465.14 on prescription drugs in “donut hole” coverage gap for an average of $596.65 in savings this year.
“ObamaCare means that seniors and people with disabilities are getting the care they need, and saving money in the process,” said Don Rowen, State President of the Iowa Alliance for Retired Americans. “Because of the healthcare law thousands of Iowa seniors are able to stay healthy. These are the real people who are benefitting from the law, and who rely on it each and every day.”
These savings are automatically applied to prescription drugs that people with Medicare purchase, after they hit the Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage gap or “donut hole.”
People with Medicare who hit the donut hole in 2010 received a one-time $250 rebate. In 2011, people with Medicare began receiving a 50 percent discount on covered brand name drugs and 7 percent coverage of generic drugs in the donut hole.
This year, Medicare coverage for generic drugs in the coverage gap has risen to 14 percent. Coverage for both brand name and generic drugs in the gap will continue to increase over time until 2020, when the coverage gap will no longer exist.
For more information on how the Affordable Care Act closes the Medicare drug benefit coverage gap “donut hole,” please visit: http://www.healthcare.gov/law/features/65-older/drug-discounts/index.html
For State-by-State information on the amount of savings people with Medicare have received in the donut hole, please visit: https://www.cms.gov/Plan-Payment