Medicare Part D

Brilliant.
Go big sis.

A new study suggests that Medicare’s 5-year-old prescription drug plan is keeping seniors out of hospitals and nursing homes, saving the federal program an estimated $12 billion a year in those costs.

…..

“This is what people always hope for: If people get drug coverage, they won’t need hospitalization,” said Marsha Gold of the nonpartisan Mathematica Policy Research, who wasn’t involved in the new study. “If it holds up, that’s great news.”

…..

Other savings come from doctors no longer admitting patients to hospitals just so Medicare would pay for drug treatments — like injectable clot-busting drugs for deep vein thrombosis — that can be given more cheaply in a doctor’s office, McWilliams said.

And remember the ‘donut hole’ that Obamacare removes?

The nation’s 1-year-old health care law is gradually closing the Medicare drug coverage gap, the “doughnut hole,” which also should keep seniors out of hospitals, McWilliams said.

But another view on the doughnut hole came from Joseph Antos, a health policy expert at the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute. Antos said the doughnut hole “turned out to be a very good idea” because it encourages seniors to use cheaper generics instead of more expensive brand-name drugs.

“It’s disastrous policy to whittle away at the doughnut hole,” Antos said. “If we see generic usage drop, that means the program is going to cost more.”