The CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) informs that almost 20.5 million Medicare beneficiaries had checkups at a free Annual Wellness Visit or used other preventive services without deductible or cost sharing since the beginning of this year. A further 1.8 million individuals with Medicare received brand-name drug discounts in the Medicare Part D coverage gap (donut hole) during the first seven months of this year.

This amounted to over $1 billion’s worth of discounts for Medicare beneficiaries in the donut hole from January to August 2011, saving them approximately $530 each.

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said:

“Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, more people with Medicare are getting preventive services like mammograms for free. The new health care law is also making prescription drugs more affordable for millions of seniors and people with disabilities.”

Examples of free preventive services for individuals with Medicare are:

CMS Administrator Donald Berwick, MD., said:

“October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month – a great time for women with Medicare to schedule a free Annual Wellness Visit with their doctors. At that visit they can talk about their personal risk for breast cancer, if they should have a mammogram or how often to have one. If you and your doctor decide that a mammogram is in order, Medicare will cover that preventive screening annually, free of charge.

Already, more than 4 million women have taken advantage of that benefit this year.”

This increase in the number of Medicare beneficiaries who are using free preventive benefits and discounts on prescription medications comes as they start reviewing their plan options for the coming year. CMS informs that the Medicare Plan Finder is available for beneficiaries, family, other caregivers, and senior program advocates.

Enrollment starts on October 15th and ends on December 7th. Those with Medicare can review Medicare Advantage and Part D prescription drug coverage and plan option over this seven week period. The HHS (Department of Health and Human Services) says the enrollment starting date is earlier this year so that Medicare has enough time to process plan choices so that they all start properly on 1st, 2012.

The HHS assures that beneficiaries will see better value in those plans for the second year. Premiums for Part D drug plans will be virtually the same for next year. Those in the Part D donut hole will still be eligible for discounts on brand named medications that are covered. In the coming years, those with Medicare will receive deeper discounts until the gap is closed at the end of this decade.

Medicare Advantage premiums will be approximately 4% lower next year, on average. Authorities expect enrollment to grow by 10%.

On its website, HHS wrote:

“All beneficiaries will have access to Medicare-covered preventive services with zero cost-sharing, including the Annual Wellness Visit, bone-mass measurement, colon cancer screenings, and diabetes screenings, as well as influenza and pneumococcal vaccines, to name a few.”

Information about how Affordable Care Act eventually closes donut hole

State-by-state info on how many people are benefiting from discounts in donut hole this year

Written by Christian Nordqvist