Generic drugs online

Source: Palm Beach Post

Date: 6-Dec-2011

Author: Laura Green

WASHINGTON - Floridians on Medicare saved more than $96 million on drug costs in 2011 thanks to a provision in health care reform, the federal government announced Tuesday.

The report was released just before today's deadline for Medicare beneficiaries to choose their 2012 health and drug plans.

The savings came from a 50 percent discount on brand-name prescription drugs once enrollees hit the "doughnut hole," the gap between regular and catastrophic coverage in the drug benefit. Generic drugs in the coverage gap were discounted by 7 percent.

The announcement allows federal officials to debunk a second prediction from critics of President Obama's Affordable Care Act. The government announced earlier that private insurers were not dropping out of the Medicare market nor hiking plan prices. In fact, average premiums went down.

Critics also worried that pharmaceutical companies would respond to the health care law by passing on higher costs to other consumers.

"We've not seen that spike in pharmaceutical pricing," Marilyn Tavenner, the new director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said Tuesday.

Nationwide, 2.65 million people with Medicare saved more than $1.5 billion on their prescriptions - averaging about $569 per person. In Florida, the savings was about $563 a person among the 171,605 in the doughnut hole.

In 2012, generic drugs will be discounted by 14 percent. The government will continue to offer richer discounts on both generic and brand-name drugs until 2020, when beneficiaries receive a 75 percent discount on all drugs in the doughnut hole, essentially closing the coverage gap.

The average Medicare prescription drug plan monthly premium in 2012 will cost about $30, down about 76 cents from 2011, the Department of Health and Human Services said.

The cost of Medicare Part D, which covers doctor visits and other outpatient services, is going up significantly less than expected, the department recently announced. Deductibles will be $22 lower in 2012 and premiums for the original Medicare program will increase $3.50 a month - far less than the projected $10 a month. A cost-of-living increase in monthly Social Security benefits - about $43 a month - will more than make up for the additional cost.

Enrollees in the privately run Medicare Advantage program will see premiums drop about 4 percent in 2012.