Schumer: With Medicare donut hole closed, billions in savings will result
(WKTV) - Senior citizens nationwide will save billions of dollars on prescription drugs.
Beginning January 1, a Medicare donut hole was fixed, which officials said caused a coverage gap in the Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Program. In the past, seniors had to pick up the cost after reaching a certain dollar amount in coverage. Now senior citizens won't have to come up with all of the costs. The drug companies will pay a larger share. "Over 15,000 citizens will benefit," said U.S. Senator Charles Schumer. "And each senior citizen will benefit over $550 a year, $9,000 over ten years." Prescription drug companies will pay 50 percent of drug costs after the threshold. That percentage will gradually increase to 100 percent of coverage, over the next ten years. "This means a lot for Central New York seniors," Senator Schumer said. "For too long, the cost of these prescription drugs was hurting people. They would have to take the drug every other day instead of every day doctors tell you that you shouldn't be doing that because of the high cost of these drugs." More than 15,000 seniors in Central New York will save with the average savings being about $55 a year. |
This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled.
Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.
Most Popular
What's On |
