New data shows Affordable Care Act saved eastern CT seniors more than $10 million on prescription drugs in 2012 | Congressman Joe Courtney
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New data shows Affordable Care Act saved eastern CT seniors more than $10 million on prescription drugs in 2012

February 11, 2013

WASHINGTON, DC – According to new data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), 11,195 eastern Connecticut Medicare beneficiaries saved $10,849,307 on prescription drugs because of the Affordable Care Act in 2012. The number already dwarfs the $5,001,408 eastern Connecticut seniors saved in 2011, and it will continue to grow each year until the Part D donut hole is completely phased out in 2020.

Beginning in 2011, Medicare improvements in the Affordable Care Act meant that beneficiaries automatically received a 50-percent discount on covered brand-name drugs in the Part D coverage gap, or donut hole. Beginning in 2012, Part D also started covering 14 percent of generic drug costs for those in the donut hole.

"As these numbers prove, seniors across eastern Connecticut are receiving significant assistance covering the cost of prescription drugs thanks to the Affordable Care Act," said Congressman Courtney. "With the cost of other consumer goods rising, the Affordable Care Act is providing real, immediate relief to seniors who, for too long, struggled under the burden of prescription drug costs."

The chart below shows the eastern Connecticut towns with the most beneficiaries receiving assistance in 2012, and is arranged by number of 2012 beneficiaries. It shows not only that the number of beneficiaries increased from 2011 to 2012, but that, in many cases, the total dollar amount saved by seniors grew significantly:

Town

# of Beneficiaries

Part D Assistance

2011

2012

2011

2012

Enfield

555

688

$372,862

$594,565

Norwich

320

585

$209,825

$657,292

Glastonbury

420

482

$283,953

$403,579

Vernon

390

481

$266,237

$459,194

Waterford

259

366

$179,051

$373,724

Mansfield

92

362

$68,634

$401,486

East Lyme

264

357

$151,451

$328,509

Madison

287

311

$205,368

$241,157

Mystic

247

284

$152,294

$249,384

Groton

237

281

$150,164

$233,031

Jewett City

143

278

$91,494

$315,357

Montville

158

268

$95,630

$300,075

Ellington

189

257

$115,372

$255,605

Tolland

152

241

$105,248

$236,133

Colchester

176

241

$129,923

$213,933

Coventry

114

229

$85,096

$247,426

Old Saybrook

190

222

$112,986

$173,458

Old Lyme

173

218

$116,476

$182,989

Stafford Springs

111

203

$77,931

$242,530

New London

171

200

$118,432

$207,624

East Hampton

114

190

$82,594

$188,284

Suffield

157

185

$97,053

$141,186

Clinton

170

181

$130,830

$148,949

Willimantic

61

172

$41,659

$197,203

Somers

144

170

$90,957

$164,872

According to CMS, more than 6.1 million seniors and people with disabilities have saved over $5.7 billion on prescription drugs as a result of the Affordable Care Act. More than 3.5 million beneficiaries in the Medicare prescription drug coverage gap known as the "donut hole" saved $2.5 billion in 2012 alone, or an average of $706 per beneficiary.