Seniors are Saving Money Today and Tomorrow, Thanks to Health Care Law

Like thousands of Americans, Vero Beach, Florida resident William Morris is suffering from a rare, but treatable cancer. Compounding that difficult diagnosis is further bad news that, like many cancer drugs, the medicine he so desperately needs is very expensive.
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But help with this cost came for William and his wife Suzanne from newly enhanced benefits under Medicare Part D � made possible by the health care reform law, the Affordable Care Act.� Thanks to the law, William saved $2,000 on the cost of his chemotherapy drugs.

Suzanne and William Morris are not alone. For years, seniors have watched their health care bills go up. The Affordable Care Act helps folks like the Morris family, and other seniors, by closing the gap in prescription drug benefits known as the �donut hole.��To assist those in the coverage gap, the law adds increased help for seniors and people with disabilities over time until the donut hole closes in 2020.� �William and Suzanne benefited from that help when they received big discounts on the medicine they needed.� People in the coverage gap also receive a 50% discount on expensive brand-name drugs covered by Part D and a 7% discount on generic medicines.

Today, we announced that in 2011 about 3.6 million people with Medicare benefited from donut hole discounts�saving a total of $2.1 billion, or an average of $604 per person.
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And a new report released today finds that these discounts and other parts of the Affordable Care Act will lead to even bigger savings in the years ahead. According to the report, the average person with Medicare will save approximately $4,200 from 2011 to 2021, while those with high prescription drug costs will save much more � as much as $16,000 over the same period.� This is especially good news for people with chronic conditions such a diabetes and high blood pressure who must take their medication every day for many years.

For older Americans and people on disabilities who live on fixed incomes the value of this help cannot be overstated. Evidence indicates that as many as 25 percent of people with Medicare Part D stop taking their medicine when they are in the coverage gap. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, they won�t have to.
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For people like William who are fighting life-threatening or debilitating diseases, this benefit can help them heal, improve the quality of their lives and prevent the sometimes devastating results of leaving chronic conditions untreated.

Obama and Daschle should opt for single-payer

Barack Obama needs to make good on his campaign pledge to reform health care. It is not enough to throw the issue off to former Senator Tom Daschle, Obama�s choice to head the Department of Health and Human Services.

Daschle says he wants to hear from us, the American people, on this issue. So we should oblige him.

Obama and Daschle have a choice: Rely on a private insurance-based plan that does little to mitigate the escalating health care crisis, or solve the problem once and for all and adopt universal, single-payer health care.

Many in Congress, the media, conservative think tanks and some advocacy groups � led by the Service Employees International Union and its business allies � are stumping for piecemeal changes.

Such a path would perpetuate the crisis and deal a cruel blow to the hopes of Americans for real reform. Those in Congress and liberal policy organizations who are embracing caution or promoting more insurance, not more care, are playing a risky game. It could jeopardize the health security of tens of millions of Americans and, in the process, fatally erode public support for the Obama administration.

Hardly a day passes without fresh signs of the health-care implosion.

Just days after the election, the New York Times reported a sharp increase in cost-shifting in employer-paid health plans, with more employers pushing high deductible plans that typically cost workers thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket payments.

Similarly, the Wall Street Journal reported a huge spike in health care premiums for small businesses, which prompted many to raise deductibles or cut coverage.

The consequences are chillingly apparent. In October, the Washington Post cited a study that found one-fourth of Americans are skipping doctors� visits, and 10 percent could not take their child to the doctor because of cost.

That same month, USA Today reported that one in eight patients with advanced cancer turn down recommended treatment because of the bills.

America is falling embarrassingly behind.

A study by the Commonwealth Fund in November compared adults with chronic conditions, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, or heart disease, in seven major industrialized countries. A stunning 54 percent of the American respondents said they were likely to go without recommended care, compared to just 7 percent of chronically ill patients in the Netherlands. Over 40 percent of the Americans spent more than $1,000 on medical bills, compared to just 4 percent of British and 5 percent of French patients.

If we adopted a universal, single-payer system like these European countries, or if we simply expanded Medicare to all Americans, we would rectify this problem.

The need is urgent. Today 46 million Americans are without health care.

Millions more are at risk of losing it during this recession. And huge numbers of Americans with insurance can�t afford the cost hikes.

At some point, our government must stop subsidizing these private companies and start investing in the American people.

The time to do so is now.

The best way to get it done is to guarantee all Americans health care in a single-payer system.

Tell Obama and Daschle to support improved Medicare for all.

Rose Ann DeMoro is executive director of the 85,000-member California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee.

This article is from the Progressive.