Thanks Obamacare: Medicare's drug coverage gap shrinks

[SFC Ollie]

Maybe out of the pockets of the bloated insurance companies, or big pharm? Ya think?

Actually, I wouldn't doubt that I am partially paying for it. Since the cost of prescriptions for military retirees just went up......

From $3 for a 30 day supply to $5.

Yep my COLA raise this year should just about cover it......maybe.....Idiot.

 

[uscitizen]

Medicare's prescription coverage gap is getting noticeably smaller and easier to manage this year for millions of older and disabled people with high drug costs.

The average beneficiary who falls into the coverage gap would have spent $1,504 this year on prescriptions. But thanks to discounts and other provisions in President Barack Obama's health care overhaul law, that cost fell to $901, according to Medicare's Office of the Actuary, which handles economic estimates.

For retired elementary school teacher Carolyn Friedman, it meant she didn't need a loan to pay for drugs that keep her epilepsy under control.

"What a change for the better," said Friedman, 71, of Sunrise, Fla. "This year it was easier to pay my bills, whereas last year I had to borrow money to pay for my medications when I was in the doughnut hole."

If Republicans succeed in repealing what they dismiss as "Obamacare," the discounts would be wiped out as well.

AP Newsbreak: Medicare's drug coverage gap shrinks - Yahoo! News

Goose you should know better!
You are going to give someone the impression that they might benefit from "Obamacare".

 

[Dot Com]

Teabaggers didn't/don't realize that rising HC costs amounted to a stealth tax

 

[Full-Auto]

Medicare's prescription coverage gap is getting noticeably smaller and easier to manage this year for millions of older and disabled people with high drug costs.

If Republicans succeed in repealing what they dismiss as "Obamacare," the discounts would be wiped out as well.

AP Newsbreak: Medicare's drug coverage gap shrinks - Yahoo! News

Goose you should know better!
You are going to give someone the impression that they might benefit from "Obamacare".

If you paid my way I would benefit.

 

[uscitizen]

AP Newsbreak: Medicare's drug coverage gap shrinks - Yahoo! News

Goose you should know better!
You are going to give someone the impression that they might benefit from "Obamacare".

If you paid my way I would benefit.

And?

 

[Mad Scientist]

Teabaggers didn't/don't realize that rising HC costs amounted to a stealth tax

ObamaCare = Ponzi Scheme:
Money slated for health law gets detoured - Washington Times

Liberals = Willing Idiots.

 

[Political Junky]

Teabaggers didn't/don't realize that rising HC costs amounted to a stealth tax

ObamaCare = Ponzi Scheme:
Money slated for health law gets detoured - Washington Times

Liberals = Willing Idiots.

Amazing that the Washington Times would have negative feelings about "Obamacare".

 

[SFC Ollie]

What part of health care costs going up and cost of premiums going up is so difficult to understand.

BTW has there been any news from the Supreme court yet?

Ohio just passed a law outlawing Obamacare.......

 

[Greenbeard]

Ohio just passed a law outlawing Obamacare.......

Medicare's donut hole is closing just as rapidly for Ohio's seniors as it is for seniors in any other state.

 

[Full-Auto]

Goose you should know better!
You are going to give someone the impression that they might benefit from "Obamacare".

If you paid my way I would benefit.

And?

I would benefit. We are talking about making someone else mitigate the costs.

 

[Trajan]

Ohio just passed a law outlawing Obamacare.......

Medicare's donut hole is closing just as rapidly for Ohio's seniors as it is for seniors in any other state.

who is paying for the donut holes?

 

[Mr. Shaman]

were are they getting the money to close this 'gap'.....

Maybe out of the pockets of the bloated insurance companies, or big pharm? Ya think?

Exactly.....​

"Back in 2003, when the so-called Medicare Modernization Act was being debated in Congress, we warned that this latest round of Medicare privatization contained severe flaws that would hurt consumers and taxpayers while lining the pockets of special interests. With nearly two years of hindsight, we can safely say we were right: The MMA has been a major disappointment for consumers and taxpayers, but a windfall for private insurance and drug companies.

We've laid out the extent of the MMA's failures in a new report: Medicare Privatization: Windfall for the Special Interests. The report chronicles the failures of the MMA in three key areas: Medicare Advantage overpayments, subsidies to regional PPOs, and drug prices.

Among the key findings:​

* Under the MMA, Medicare has been significantly overpaying private plans under Medicare Advantage. In 2005, Medicare overpaid private plans by at least 7% per beneficiary, costing taxpayers $2.7 billion. In 2006, overpayment reached 11% per beneficiary, costing taxpayers $4.6 billion.

* Under the MMA, Congress set aside $10 billion for an unnecessary subsidy (or "stabilization fund") to regional PPOs. This year, however, 88% of beneficiaries have access to a regional PPO, before the so-called "stabilization fund" was even tapped--no subsidy was necessary.

* Medicare Part D drug prices are substantially higher than the prices obtained by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which negotiates prices on behalf of consumers. For all of the top 20 drugs prescribed to seniors, the lowest price charged by any Part D plan was higher than the lowest price secured by the VA. Yet Congress refused to let Medicare negotiate directly with the drug companies, as the VA does.

* Bottom line: this report shows that, unfortunately for consumers and taxpayers, the MMA has not even come close to meeting the high expectations set for it by Congress. Consumers are getting hurt and taxpayers fleeced, while insurance companies and drug manufacturers are raking in money faster than they can count it. Congress needs to move away from this deeply flawed privatization model, and instead focus on strengthening Medicare."

Lil' Dumbya's Big D​

"Check & MATE, BUSHCO!!"​

 

[DaGoose]

Ohio just passed a law outlawing Obamacare.......

Medicare's donut hole is closing just as rapidly for Ohio's seniors as it is for seniors in any other state.

who is paying for the donut holes?

The same ones who pay to close insurance company holes. Everyone who participates in the program.

 

[Trajan]

Medicare's donut hole is closing just as rapidly for Ohio's seniors as it is for seniors in any other state.

who is paying for the donut holes?

The same ones who pay to close insurance company holes. Everyone who participates in the program.

so, the people in medicare are paying to fill the donut hole?

 

[BDBoop]

Oh, good. My ex is in Ohio. I wish him nothing but the best. Norly.

 

[BDBoop]

What part of health care costs going up and cost of premiums going up is so difficult to understand.

BTW has there been any news from the Supreme court yet?

Ohio just passed a law outlawing Obamacare.......

 

[SFC Ollie]

LOL Ted Strickland who was another Democrat one termer...... I actually voted for him, Once....
He's wrong again........

 

[DaGoose]

who is paying for the donut holes?

The same ones who pay to close insurance company holes. Everyone who participates in the program.

so, the people in medicare are paying to fill the donut hole?

Everyone who works and pays taxes. Just because you're not currently receiving medicare doesn't mean that you're not part of the program. And, like SS, I don't mind paying more money or a higher rate now to help sustain a program that in time I'll depend on.

The person who benefits from this now could be my mother or grandparents. But in time it will be me (and you whether you want to admit it or not).

 

[candycorn]

What part of health care costs going up and cost of premiums going up is so difficult to understand.

BTW has there been any news from the Supreme court yet?

Ohio just passed a law outlawing Obamacare.......

Arguments will take place in March; decision in June. They talk about it during the Political Gabfest.

OWS evicted, SCOTUS on health care, and John’s Bachmann email on the Political Gabfest - Slate Magazine

Apparently, the high court will consider a few things. One is if the act in general would be sustainable if the single mandate of forcing one to purchase health insurance is overturned. Another is if the increased costs to States is constitutional for a Federal Program.

The decision won't be if the entire thing is to be overturned or not apparently.

 

[BDBoop]

LOL Ted Strickland who was another Democrat one termer...... I actually voted for him, Once....
He's wrong again........

Tell me how he's wrong. Specifically. Using actual facts and the like.