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CMS: Obama health law yielded billions in Rx savings
The Obama administration said Tuesday that 6 million Medicare beneficiaries have saved more than $5.7 billion on prescription drugs since 2010 thanks to healthcare reform.
Health officials noted that drug savings are on the rise, increasing from $2.3 billion in 2011 to $2.5 billion in 2012 as the law works to close the so-called "doughnut hole."
The figures came in a second annual report on Medicare drug savings from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). CMS touted the healthcare law for keeping Medicare premiums
stable, offering new preventive services for seniors and boosting
efforts against Medicare fraud.
"Drugs managing chronic conditions such as high blood sugar, high blood
pressure and high cholesterol accounted for almost 33 percent of savings
and may have helped patients avoid hospitalization," officials wrote. A memo added that "people with Medicare who must continuously take medications are benefitting most from the help provided by the Affordable Care Act."
The Health and Human Services Department projected that savings per Medicare beneficiary will average $5,000 through 2022, with some chronically ill patients saving more than three times that amount.
This year, the healthcare law mandates savings of 52.5 percent on brand-name drugs and 21 percent on generics. Last year, Medicare beneficiaries in the "doughnut hole" saved 50 percent on covered brand-name prescriptions and 14 percent on generics.
