Californians save $485 million with Affordable Care Act

The cost of prescription drugs for people on Medicare is actually going down as a result of discounts from pharmaceutical companies mandated by the Affordable Care Act, combined with increased use of less costly generic drugs, the federal government announced Thursday.

In California, people purchasing prescriptions through the Medicare Part D coverage program saved $485 million during the three years the law has been in effect, said Kathleen Sebelius, Health and Human Services secretary.

Across the country, 6.3 million people on Medicare saved about $6.1 billion on prescription drugs since the healthcare law, also known as ObamaCare, was enacted, said John Blum, acting principal deputy administrator and director of the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services, a division of HHS.

Read more in Steve Scauzillo’s story HEALTH

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.