Seniors and the Affordable Care Act

The Affordable Care Acts helps make Medicare and your health care better. Here are a few things you should know about the new law and your Medicare. First, the law protects your existing, guaranteed, Medicare-covered, benefits. That's a really important point. Your existing Medicare-covered benefits are protected. Second, you have the same ability to choose your own doctor in original Medicare that you've always had. In fact, the vast majority of doctors and hospitals participate in Medicare, so you have a wide choice and access to care.

Third, there are some important new benefits in the Affordable Care Act that will help make your Medicare even stronger. If you've fallen into the gap in prescription coverage under Medicare Part D, you know that “doughnut hole” means something serious: the possibility that you won't be able to afford the medications you need. The Affordable Care Act not only protects existing Medicare prescription drug benefits, it closes the doughnut hole-- the gap in Medicare prescription drug coverage. If you're on Medicare, don't get Medicare Extra Help for your high prescription drug costs, and reach the doughnut hole in 2010, you'll get a one-time tax-free $250 rebate from Medicare to help offset your costs. Medicare has already started mailing out these rebate checks to eligible seniors, and will be sending out more each month to Medicare recipients who qualify. Beginning in 2011, if you have high prescription drug costs that put you in the doughnut hole, you'll receive a 50% discount on covered brand-name drugs while you're in the coverage gap. Medicare will add more cost savings in the future, until the doughnut hole is closed in 2020. Also starting in 2011, Medicare will offer preventive services without charging you a co-insurance or a deductible. You'll also be offered a free annual wellness exam.

Excessive over-payments to private insurance companies in Medicare Advantage will be gradually reduced, while enrollees' guaranteed Medicare benefits will be protected. A greater percentage of premium dollars will be spent on health care, rather than administrative costs or profit. This will lower Medicare Part B premiums for everyone with Medicare, including the three-quarters not enrolled in a Medicare Advantage Plan. The Affordable Care Act will also make Medicare stronger going into the future. By reducing waste, fraud, and abuse, it will slow the cost growth of Medicare, extending the life of the hospital insurance Medicare Trust Fund to at least 2029. That's a twelve year extension. If you're over 55 and retired, but not old enough for Medicare, it can be very difficult to find affordable insurance. The Affordable Care Act can help. If you were covered under an employer-sponsored health plan when you retired, a new early-retiree reinsurance program will lower the cost of your employer's plan. If you're not yet eligible for Medicare, you have a pre-existing condition, and you've been uninsured for six months, you may be able to get health insurance through a transitional high-risk pool until the insurance exchanges offer you options in 2014. You'll find the information you need to make smart health coverage choices for yourself or your loved one on this website.