Hoyer Announces Third Round of "Donut Hole" Checks On Their Way to Hundreds of Thousands of Seniors

By the End of This Week, More than 750,000 Seniors Will Have Received $250 Checks So Far This Summer; 10,171 Total Checks to Seniors in Maryland

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-5) announced that, the third round of "donut hole" checks have gone out to more than 375,000 seniors.  Under the Affordable Care Act, seniors whose prescription drug costs are so high that they fall in the Medicare prescription drug ‘donut hole' coverage gap in 2010 are receiving this one-time tax-free $250 rebate check.  Experts estimate that more than a quarter of seniors will hit the ‘donut hole' this year. 

For Maryland, 1,178 seniors received the rebate in June;  4,325 seniors received it in July; and now 4,668 are receiving it in early August, for a total of 10,171 total checks mailed to seniors in Maryland this summer alone.

"Prescription drugs cost many people thousands of dollars a year, and for those whose costs exceed a certain level, they are left to choose whether to buy prescriptions or put food on the table," said Congressman Hoyer. "That is unacceptable. These checks are a down payment on reducing prescription drug costs for seniors and eventually closing the donut hole altogether, and are the first example of how health care reform will strengthen Medicare and help seniors."

The checks are just the first benefit from health reform for seniors in the Medicare Prescription Drug program.  Beginning in January 2011, seniors in the donut hole will receive a 50% discount on brand name drugs.  By 2020, the donut hole will be completely closed.

The ‘donut hole' coverage gap is the period in the prescription drug benefit (once their prescription drug costs exceed $2,830) in which the beneficiary pays 100 percent of the cost of their drugs until they hit the catastrophic coverage threshold.

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.  But Hoyer also warned seniors to be on the lookout for fraud: "The new health reform law contains some critical new tools to improve and enhance efforts to prevent, detect and take strong enforcement action against fraud in Medicare. Citizens should take steps to protect personal information and watch out for and report signs of fraud."

Making prescription drugs more affordable for seniors is only one of the many benefits for seniors included in the Affordable Care Act.  Under the new law, other benefits for seniors include:

• Beginning on January 1, 2011, provides that seniors will receive free preventive care services like mammograms and certain colon cancer tests and a free annual physical.
• Strengthens Medicare by extending its solvency by an additional 12 years, from 2017 to 2029.
• Includes Medicare efficiencies, so that experts estimate that seniors can expect to save on average almost $200 per year in premiums, by 2018, compared to what they would have paid without the new law.
• Continues to reduce waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare.
• Improves care by helping doctors communicate and coordinate.
• Expands home and community-based services to keep seniors in their home, instead of in nursing homes.

Click here for more information on the immediate benefits for Maryland of the Affordable Care Act.

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