DeLauro: New Report Finds Nearly 90,000 Connecticut Medicare Beneficiaries at Risk of "Doughnut Hole"
DeLauro: New Report Finds Nearly 90,000 Connecticut Medicare Beneficiaries at Risk of "Doughnut Hole"
Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (Conn.-3) today issued the following statement in reaction to a new report released by Congressional Democrats that shows a majority of enrollees in the new Medicare drug benefit are at risk of falling into the "doughnut hole" - a gap in coverage that will leave seniors and the disabled without the standard benefit they enrolled in.
"This report makes clear that Medicare beneficiaries around the country were sold a bill of goods on this new benefit," said DeLauro. "They were told they would see lower drug costs, better coverage and less red tape, but in fact, they have seen just the opposite under this new law. It is unconscionable that Congressional Republicans would even write this mandate into law, let alone allow it to stand. Congress must remedy this doughnut hole immediately - just one of the myriad of problems with this new law."
Key Findings of The Doughnut-Hole Report:
· 86,855 Connecticut beneficiaries are at risk of falling into the "doughnut hole."
· An alarming 88 percent - nearly 7 million - of Medicare Prescription Drug plan enrollees who purchased non-HMO drug coverage are enrolled in prescription drug plans that contain a doughnut hole, or gap in coverage;
· 84 percent of private drug plans (PDPs) that are offered nationwide have a gap in coverage;
· Nationwide, just 12 percent of beneficiaries -- fewer than a million people -- with new coverage are enrolled in plans that provide any coverage at all in the doughnut hole;
· Only 1 out of 44 available plans in Connecticut provides coverage in the "doughnut hole" at an annual premium that is on average 253% higher than plans without coverage.
Congressional Democrats offered an alternative plan to fix the new prescription drug program. In the Democratic Prescription for Change, House Democrats have proposed making the Medicare drug benefit simple, affordable, and reliable for senior citizens and people with disabilities. Under the proposal, Medicare would be required to use its bargaining power to negotiate lower drug prices, and the savings would be used to fill the doughnut hole. The Democratic plan would also waive the late enrollment penalty for millions of beneficiaries who are now locked out of coverage until 2007, and simplify the program by creating a Medicare-sponsored option.
http://www.house.gov/delauro/press/2006/September/Doughnut_Hole_Medicare_09_21_06.html