Checks to seniors with high drug bills out earlier

[babylonsister]

Checks to seniors with high drug bills out earlier

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR
Associated Press Writer


WASHINGTON (AP) -- Government checks to seniors with high prescription drug bills are going out early, Obama administration officials said Thursday, plugging the advantages of the new health care overhaul law.

The $250 checks for Medicare recipients who fall into the prescription drug coverage gap are a new benefit this year, a modest down payment on gradually closing the "doughnut hole" over the next decade. Seniors who fall into the gap are responsible for $3,610 in drug costs in 2010 before their Medicare coverage kicks in again.

Health and Human Services spokeswoman Jessica Santillo said the rebates are going out ahead of the June 15 deadline set in the law. Some 4 million seniors and disabled people will get checks this year. The first monthly batch of 80,000 will be mailed out June 10.

Significant savings will come next year, when the law provides a 50 percent discount on brand name drugs for seniors in the gap, and a smaller discount on generics. Those discounts gradually increase year-by-year until 2020, when the coverage gap will be fully phased out.

more...

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MEDICARE_CHECKS?SITE=CONGRA&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[Cha]

1. Good for them..I hope it

helps.