The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reported Thursday nearly 20.5 million people with Medicare reviewed their health status at a free annual wellness visit or received other preventive services with no deductible or cost sharing this year.
In addition, nearly 1.8 million people with Medicare have received discounts on brand-name drugs in the Medicare Part D coverage gap, also known as the "donut hole," between January and August of this year. The total value of discounts to people with Medicare in the donut hole is nearly $1 billion through August of this year, with an average savings of $530 per beneficiary.
"Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, more people with Medicare are getting preventive services like mammograms for free," says HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. "The new health care law is also making prescription drugs more affordable for millions of seniors and people with disabilities."
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More than four million women have received free mammograms this year, says CMS administrator Donald Berwick.
The rising number of people who are taking advantage of preventive benefits and prescription drug discounts comes as people with Medicare are beginning to review their plan options for next year. Enrollment begins Oct. 15 and runs through Dec. 7.
Every person with a Medicare Advantage or a Part D drug plan will also see better value in those plans for the second year, HHS reports. Average Part D drug plan premiums will remain virtually unchanged in 2012. Those in the Part D coverage gap, or donut hole, will continue to be able to get discounts on covered brand name drugs, and people with Medicare will get deeper discounts in the years ahead until the gap is closed in 2020.
On average, Medicare Advantage premiums will be 4 percent lower in 2012 than in 2011, and plans project enrollment to increase by 10 percent. All beneficiaries will have access to Medicare-covered preventive services with zero cost-sharing, including the annual wellness visit, bone-mass measurement, colon cancer and diabetes screenings, as well as influenza and pneumococcal vaccines, to name a few.
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