On Monday, December 2^nd, Congressman Henry Cuellar (D-TX28) announced the release of a new report by the Centers for Medicare and Medicare demonstrating how Affordable Care Act has reduced costs of prescription drug costs for seniors in the State of Texas. 

In Texas, 233,114 seniors and people with disabilities saved $201,876,665, or an average of $866 per beneficiary, during the first 10 months of 2013. Overall, seniors in Texas have saved $551,694,997 since passage of the Affordable Care Act. At the same time, these seniors will be free to use more of their Social Security benefit cost of living adjustment on what they choose because the Medicare Part B premium will not increase in 2014. 

“Seniors across the State of Texas rely on Medicare to cover their basic healthcare needs,” said Congressman Henry Cuellar, “and I am pleased to see that their costs have decreased during 2013.  Prescription drug costs can be a huge burden on seniors, especially those seniors living under the Medicare Part D donut hole that fails to cover costs that are not catastrophic.  I encourage seniors and their families to take full advantage of these new benefits and educate themselves about their update coverage.  My office stands ready to help so please reach out should you need any assistance.”

News on the continued savings on prescription drugs comes on the heels of new information showing historically low levels of growth in Medicare spending. For example: 

• CMS recently announced that the Medicare’s Part B premium will not increase in 2014, and that the last five years have been among the slowest periods of average Part B premium growth in the program’s history.

• The Part B deductible will also not increase, having decreased in 2013.  The Part B premium and deductible for 2014 are 15 percent below what was projected in 2010, the year the Affordable Care Act was enacted.

• Also as a result of the Affordable Care Act, Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug Plans remain stable and strong. Earlier this year, CMS announced that the average Medicare Advantage (MA) premium in 2014 is projected to be $32.60. CMS also estimated that the average basic Medicare prescription drug plan premium in 2014 is projected to be $31 per month, holding steady for 4 years in a row. The deductible for standard Part D plans will decline by $15 in 2014, to $310. Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, average MA premiums are down by 9.8 percent. -

• Since enactment of the Affordable Care Act, the life of the Medicare trust fund has been extended by nearly ten years, till 2026.

For more information about Medicare’s prescription drug benefits, please visit:  http://www.medicare.gov/part-d/. 

The Annual Open Enrollment period for health and drug plans began on October 15 and ends on December 7. For more information on Medicare Open Enrollment and to compare benefits and prices of 2014 Medicare health and drug plans, please visit: http://www.cms.gov/Center/Special-Topic/Open-Enrollment-Center.html.