HHS: NY Medicare users saved $1.15 billion in prescription drug costs since 2010

Feb. 26--New York Medicare beneficiaries have saved about $1.15 billion since 2010 in prescription drug costs because of changes implemented with the Affordable Care Act, according to new federal statistics.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said Tuesday that 353,085 people with Medicare in the state saved $379,896,951 in 2014 alone, about $1,076 per person, by closing the Part D "donut hole," in which beneficiaries had to pay out of pocket for medications that cost more than what was covered but were less than what would fall under catastrophic care.

The gap has been addressed through rebates and discounts.

The department said Medicare Part D enrollees who fall into the gap for 2015 will receive savings of 55 percent on brand name drugs and 35 percent on generic drugs.

This year is the first since the requirement for people to have health insurance.

The federal legislation also covers a wide range of preventive care services, and about 2.3 million New Yorkers with Medicare took advantage of at least one preventive service with no cost in 2014, the department said.

A Gallup poll indicates that about 10.1 percent of New York residents were uninsured in 2014, down from 12.6 percent the previous year.

Arkansas saw the sharpest reduction in uninsured residents in that period, from 22.5 percent to 11.4 percent.

Overall, Texas had the highest rate of uninsured respondents, 24.4 percent, while Massachusetts had the lowest uninsured rate, 4.6 percent.

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