Congresswoman Matsui Releases Video on Benefits of Health Care Law for Seniors
CA • Today, in honor of the one year anniversary of the Affordable Care Act, Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-CA) released a video made in collaboration with her colleague and fellow Co-Chair of the Congressional Task Force on Seniors, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), to explain the benefits of the health care law for seniors.
• There have been a lot of myths out there about what exactly this law does and does not do for seniors,• said Congresswoman Matsui. • We• re hopeful that this video will clear up some of the misinformation, and provide seniors with an understanding of the benefits they can receive as a result of the Affordable Care Act.•
Seniors have already begun to see some of these benefits, according to a new report released by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In January and February alone, 48,000 seniors received discounted prescription drugs as a result of the health care law, and saved a combined total of $38 million in just two months.
• The HHS report underscores the extent to which seniors across the country are seeing the tangible benefits of the health care law,• added Matsui. • I have heard from seniors in my district about the difference this is making in their lives, and I am committed to doing everything I can to make sure all seniors see these benefits. From preventive health care to helping make prescriptions more affordable, the law is a net positive for America•’s seniors.•
The health care law specifically benefits seniors by:
Reducing prescription drug costs. More than 3.5 million seniors who entered the Medicare Part D • donut hole• coverage gap in 2010 have received $250 rebate checks. Beginning on January 1, 2011, seniors who enter the • donut hole• are receiving even greater savings • a 50% discount on brand-name drugs. Reform completely closes the • donut hole• by 2020. These seniors, on average, will save more than $500 in 2011 and more than $3,000 in 2020 on their drug costs.
Providing a free annual wellness visit under Medicare, for the first time, beginning on January 1, 2011.
Providing free Medicare coverage of key preventive services, such as mammograms and colonoscopies, beginning on January 1, 2011.
Strengthening Medicare and extending solvency of the Medicare Trust Fund by 12 years • from 2017 to 2029. These reforms strengthen solvency by squeezing waste out of the system and making it more efficient, without reducing benefits.
Developing new tools to crack down on fraud in Medicare, and in 2010, a DOJ-HHS anti-Medicare fraud task force recovered a record $4 billion on behalf of taxpayers. In passing H.R. 1, House Republicans have voted to weaken these anti-fraud efforts, with a deep cut in funds used by HHS to detect and prevent fraud.
Helping seniors remain at home and out of nursing homes, with the new Community First Choice Option, allowing states to offer home-based services to disabled individuals through Medicaid rather than institutional care, beginning on October 1, 2011.
Providing nursing home residents with more protections from abuse and makes more information available about nursing homes so consumers are better informed.
