No increase in the Medicare drug premiums in 2012

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay reporter

Thursday, Aug. 4 HealthDay News)-in the year 2012, the average Medicare Premium seniors pay for their prescription drugs actually something US officials Thursday announced drop.

Overall the average premium cost of Medicare Part D plan must representatives from the U.S. Department of health and human said services (HHS), during a press conference in the afternoon prescription drug in 2012 are about $30, a modest drop from $30.76 paid on average in the year 2011.

How is the plan in a position to keep premiums down? According to officials take advantage of program benefits plans and the increased use of generic drugs Medicares popular drug from competition between private insurance cheaper. And they say that this situation in the future could get rosier as more blockbuster drugs be stated, that in the next few years go generic.

In addition, this year said almost 900,000 Medicare patients, the drop in the prescription drug donut hole-where costs are covered non-- a 50% discount got on their drugs to help ease that financial hardship, HHS officials so far.

Agency Secretary Kathleen Sebelius credited to the Obama management of health care reform efforts with much cost savings seniors.

"Affordable care Act strengthens a very critical Medicare program and help millions of seniors and Americans with disabilities receive the care they need," she said. "Thanks to the new discounts, beneficiaries hundreds of millions of dollars in the Medicare Part D save coverage gap, known as premiums covered the donut-hole at the same time as part D," she said.

Overall, health financing savings on drugs for Medicare patients rose $ 461 million until June 2011, health officials said. This is an increase of $ 260 million by May 2011, meaning that Medicare patients in the donut hole saved in June alone more than $200 million.

"Also, millions of people in Medicare have advantage of potentially life-saving prevention, such as breast and colorectal cancer screenings, drawn without co or deductibles," Sebelius noted. An important part of health care reform, the package was expanded access to preventive health services and HHS says, which so far this year have received more than 17 million Medicare recipients such free services, while a further million patients taken advantages of the free annual wellness visits.

Sebelius indicates that there is still room for improvement, but show. "There are still gaps in coverage, especially in prescription drugs," she said. To have said Sebelius in four seniors, they skip drugs or pills halve or fill prescriptions not, because they cannot afford their medications.

"The affordable care Act number words still this gap until donut-hole is closed in the year 2020," said Sebelius. "No senior should have to choose, that they need between medications to healthy and putting food on their table."

Not everyone was impressed with the new statistics however.

"I like the fact that premiums be kept down", John C. said Goodman, President of the National Center for policy analysis, a Washington, DC-based conservative think tank. "It proves once again that competition works;" "and this is a good model, as opposed to the Government or a base price set to follow."

But the rest of the HSS notice was not good news, he claimed. "What we do is, we humans give advantages which we can afford, and, have the dubious health value, it is truncated white editions, at a time when Congress," said Goodman.

And Michael F. Cannon, health policy Director of studies at the conservative Cato Institute, also in Washington, D.C., called the part D Notice "the latest in an endless string of Valentines administration at Medicare subscribers who sent Obama."

He believes that "your more responsible senior citizens are concerned that Medicare is going to their children and grandchildren bankruptcy."

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