Washington, D.C. -— Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-Lillington) announced today that Medicare will begin mailing out $250 checks to tens of thousands of seniors to close the ‘donut hole’ to make up for the prescription drug coverage gap affecting North Carolina’s senior citizens.
“North Carolina’s senior citizens deserve the best care possible at an affordable price,” Etheridge said. “These checks are the first steps toward making prescription medicine affordable and strengthening Medicare.”
The “donut hole” refers to the Medicare Part D coverage gap, in which seniors pay 100 percent of the cost of their drugs. The prescription drug benefit does not provide any coverage for medications for the period where a Medicare beneficiary’s prescription drug costs exceed $2,830 until they hit the catastrophic coverage threshold. Most seniors are on very fixed incomes, and have difficulty paying the costs of drugs in the donut hole.
Last year, roughly 120,000 Medicare beneficiaries in North Carolina were subject to the donut hole and received no coverage for the cost of their prescription drugs. Under health care reform, the $250 checks are just the first step in reducing seniors’ prescription drug costs. Beginning next year, Medicare beneficiaries will receive a 50 percent discount on prescription drugs in the donut hole, and by 2020, the donut hole is completely closed.
Medicare recipients don’t have to do anything to get the $250 check — once their drug costs for the year hit $2,830 the one-time check will be issued automatically. They will be mailed today to all seniors who have exceeded the $2,830 threshold already this year, and will be sent monthly throughout the year as new beneficiaries hit the donut hole.
“If the opponents of health reform are successful in repealing this law, they will force North Carolina seniors to once again choose between buying the prescriptions they need and putting food on the table,” Etheridge said. “We must protect seniors from high prescription drug prices. The care our seniors need and deserve should come before corporate profits.”