medicare doughnut hole

“Any changes to Medicare should help, not hurt, patients,” say the PhRMA ads. Yet PhRMA’s actions tell a different story.

Good news everyone! There's a new report that shows lots of people saving good cash on prescription drugs because of the Affordable Care Act. The Health and Human Services department reports that seniors have saved around $5.7 billion since January of 2011. This is largely due to the closing of the doughnut hole. While everyone who qualifies saves money, it really benefited those with chronic conditions. HHS has projected that savings per Medicare beneficiary will be about $5,000 through the next 10 years, with those dealing with chronic conditions saving as much as three times more.