The Affordable Care Act’s changes to Medicare prescription drug coverage saved Connecticut seniors and disabled residents $64.7 million last year, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The 2010 law, also referred to as Obamacare, closes over a 10-year period a gap in prescription drug coverage known as “the donut hole.”
Since the ACA took effect, Connecticut beneficiaries have saved $204.6 million, DHHS said.
After Medicare spends a certain amount of prescription drugs for a beneficiary — this year the figure is $2,960 — the coverage gap requires the beneficiary to pay for a portion of his prescriptions until an out of pocket limit is reached, at which point Medicare covers nearly all of the cost moving forward. Under the ACA, beneficiaries receive an escalating discount each year on the prescriptions for which they must pay.
In 2014, 60,610 Connecticut beneficiaries saved an average of $1,067 each, DHHS said.
