An agreement to plug the co-called “doughnut hole” in senior’s Medicare Part D coverage has been reached, U.S. President Barack Obama said Monday.
The plan received the endorsement from the AARP, the largest organization representing people 50 and over, Obama said in a statement.
“This is a significant breakthrough on the road to healthcare reform, one that will make the difference in the lives of many older Americans,” Obama said of the accord reached with the drug companies to lower prescription costs for seniors caught in the “notorious doughnut hole.”
The doughnut hole — the gap of unreimbursed prescription expenses between $2,700 and $6,153.75 per year — “makes it harder for millions of Medicare beneficiaries to pay for the medication they need,” Obama said.
Medicare beneficiaries whose spending falls within the doughnut hole will get a discount on prescription drugs of at least 50 percent from the negotiated price their plan pays.
The gap has placed a “crushing burden” on seniors living on on fixed incomes that can’t afford the out-of-pocket expenses, Obama said, Many were taking reduced dosages against medical advice to stretch their drugs and dollars, he said.
Obama said he and AARP are committed to “achieving healthcare reform by the end of this year.
“(To) do that, we’re going to have to work together to root out waste and inefficiencies that may pad the bottom line of the insurance industry, but add nothing to the health of our nation,” Obama said. “To that end, the pharmaceutical industry has committed to reduce its draw on the healthcare system by $80 billion over the next 10 years as part of overall health care reform.”
To critics of Obama’s healthcare reform efforts, he revived his campaign slogan, “Yes, we can.”
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