'Doughnut hole' Medicare drug rebates start going to seniors soon(Next 2 Weeks)

[RamboLiberal]

Source: Los Angeles Times

The Obama administration says the first $250 checks, part of the new healthcare law, will arrive in two weeks. Recipients do not need to apply.

Reporting from Washington — Senior citizens who hit the so-called doughnut hole in Medicare's drug benefit will begin getting $250 rebate checks in two weeks, the Obama administration announced Thursday — providing one of the first tangible benefits of the recently enacted healthcare law.

The rebates, designed in part to bolster support for the controversial law, are the first steps in a decade-long phase-out of the unpopular gap in Medicare Part D drug coverage.

Seniors now enrolled in a Medicare Part D plan pay 25% of the cost of their prescription drugs until the total bill reaches $2,830. At that point, enrollees must pay the full cost of their prescriptions until their total out-of-pocket spending reaches $4,550. Catastrophic coverage then kicks in and enrollees pay 5% of drug costs for the rest of the year.

Department of Health and Human Services officials said Thursday that the first 80,000 seniors who hit that coverage gap, or "doughnut hole," will be sent checks on June 10, five days before the deadline.



Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/health/healthcare/la-na-medicare-checks-20100528,0,29972.story

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All Tea-Partiers who get these checks - we expect you to send them back!