FACT: ObamaCare saved nearly 4 million seniors over $2.1 billion on prescription drugs in 2011

[Tx4obama]

REPORT: Seniors Saving On Prescription Drugs As A Result Of Health Reform

The Affordable Care Act has produced $2.1 billion in prescription drug savings for nearly 4 million seniors and people with disabilities who were enrolled in Medicare Part D in 2011, a new Obama administration report finds. The savings are the result of a provision in the health care law that provides a 50 percent discount for brand-name drugs and 14 percent discount for generic brands to Medicare beneficiaries in the so-called “doughnut hole.” Seniors can expect greater savings as the law completely closes the coverage gap over time.

The average Medicare enrollee will save approximately $4,181 from 2011 to 2021, while those with high prescription drug costs could save as much as $15,710 over the same period. Those with low drug costs should save roughly $2,964:

SNIP

Rest of article and CHART here: http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/02/02/417238/report-seniors-saving-on-prescription-drugs-as-a-result-of-health-reform/

[zipplewrath]

1. I do wonder

How much would have been saved if Medicare had been allowed to negotiate drug prices directly.

[cbrer]

2. WTF??

How in the world are we going to pay for the military at this rate?

[sad sally]

3. There's something wrong in America with so many over 65 being such heavy drug users.

The overmedication of America's seniors is both widespread and often deadly, a growing collection of research and government reports show.

Across all ages, the number of people treated in U.S. hospitals for illness and injuries from taking medicines jumped 52 percent to nearly 2 million overall, according to an April report from the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

But that report and another released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA) in March noted that 53 percent of those hospitalized for adverse reactions or other problems with medications were 65 or older, as were nearly 62 percent of those seen at emergency rooms.
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Other studies have pegged the total cost of treating medication-related problems in the U.S at more than $200 billion a year.

Other research indicates that seniors in their 60s typically take an average of seven different medications a day; by the time they reach their 80s, the average nearly doubles.

http://public.shns.com/content/medical-overmedication-imperils-seniors-studies-say?du

[MannyGoldstein]

4. But our total health care costs were roughly $600 billion higher than they'd be in any other country

Given how much more we pay for health care.