DUmbasses neglect to blame Bush

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

bigtree  (1000+ posts)        Sun Nov-27-11 08:47 AM
Original message
Medicare's drug coverage gap shrinks
 WASHINGTON (AP) —

The "doughnut hole," an anxiety-inducing catch in an otherwise popular benefit, will shrink about 40 percent for those unlucky enough to land in it, according to new Medicare figures provided in response to a request from The Associated Press.

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.

A 50 percent discount that the law secured from pharmaceutical companies on brand name drugs yielded an average savings of $581. Medicare also picked up more of the cost of generic drugs, saving an additional $22.

Under Obama's health care law, the gap will be gradually phased down by 2020.

This year, the law provides a 50 percent discount on brand name drugs and 7 percent break on generics. Next year the discount on generics rises to 14 percent. When the changes are fully phased in, beneficiaries will still be responsible for their annual deductible and 25 percent of the cost of their medications until they reach catastrophic coverage.


read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hlGe6...

 

Bluenorthwest  (1000+ posts)      Sun Nov-27-11 09:56 AM
Response to Original message
1. And yet no one can rationalize the existance of a gap in coverage
 for medicines for our elders. The gap is criminal, and definitive of the ethics of all who designed it. When folks charge granny for life saving meds in a 'gap' and then they tell me they are 'sanctified Christians' I laugh in their amoral faces.

Before Bush there was no donut, just hole.

Apparently Clinton was too busy telling Monica she had the prettiest smile he's ever come across and Obama must have missed the correction because he was late for his golf game...

...but it's the Christian's fault.

Gin  (1000+ posts)      Sun Nov-27-11 10:08 AM
Response to Reply #1
2. I totaly agree....the "gap" is criminal and should have been closed
 immediately in the health insurance bill.

"Criminal"? People paying for their own stuff is criminal?

Maybe if the government largesse wasn't distorting market prices the companies would only charge what their customers could actually afford.

NV Whino  (1000+ posts)      Sun Nov-27-11 10:13 AM
Response to Original message
3. But since the cost of drugs has risen
 You're going to reach that donut hole a lot faster. My copay for tier 1 generics has gone from $5 to $9. Tier 2 drugs (including a generic) went from $20 to $45.

What frosts me, aside from the gap itself, is that it went into to affect almost immediately, yet it is going to take 20 years to "phase it out." 

Sorry we can't shit golden eggs fast enough for you.

bigtree  (1000+ posts)        Sun Nov-27-11 10:19 AM
Response to Reply #3
5. and resisting legislation to allow folks to get cheaper meds
 . . . from Canada. where they have price controls on Pharma.

"One congressional estimate says Americans could save $50 billion over 10 years if the nation permitted U.S.-manufactured drugs to be reimported from Canada and other nations where price controls on pharmaceuticals hold down costs."
http://www.freep.com/article/20090802/NEWS06/308020003/... |head

Um-m-m...

The reason Canadian drugs are cheap at the back-end point of purchase is because Canadians pay big up-front taxes to have their meds subsidized. Maybe the Canadians don't want to pay you too; nor should they.

Hoyt  (1000+ posts)      Sun Nov-27-11 10:19 AM
Response to Original message
4. Gap is clearly a problem, but getting better. Until 2006, there was no prescription drug coverage.
 
Prior to 2006 millions of seniors went without or cut pills into parts. In any event, Obama should get some credit for the improvements.

In about 3 years, I'll be glad to have this coverage, even with a gap.

Rosa Luxemburg  (1000+ posts)       Sun Nov-27-11 11:36 AM
Response to Original message
6. Why is the gap still there? Fund healthcare not wars

Does that include the War on Poverty, LLC?

Remember, we had to pass the bill to see what was in it.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x2386519

[TVDOC]

Ya know......I have mixed thoughts about this, both drug costs in the US, as well as re-importation from other countries......for a couple of reasons:

1.)  American consumers pay a vast majority of the pharma industries R & D costs in our pricing that other countries that negotiate pricing (or are considered "impoverished") do not.  Drugs are sold to "third world" countries at very close to what it costs to produce them.  I can purchase a name-brand drug from Mexican sources for about 30% of the price as here in the US, and the irony is that this drug is manufactured in Mexico, and imported into the US.

2.)  ALL of the cost of FDA compliance is borne by the US customer.......the rest of the world gets a "free ride" on these drug safety requirements.

3.)  US customers also bear the cost of all of the litigation which might stem from use of any particular pharma product produced anywhere, but approved to be sold in this country........the exact same environment that raises total healthcare costs.......tort lawyers.....

Although I have a problem with the Medicare Part D program in general, the entire program could be eliminated by getting government regulation (except for safety) out of the pharma business......and forcing the rest of the world to pay their share of the costs.  If other governments have to pony up to subsidize drug costs for their citizens, that's too damn bad..........

doc