| Affordable Care Act |
March 28, 2012 |
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Patrick Leahy, D-VT
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"Americans are already beginning to see some of the benefits of insurance reform. Seniors on Medicare who have high-cost prescriptions are starting to receive help when trapped within a coverage gap known as the “doughnut hole.” The affordable care act completely closes the coverage gap by 2020, and the new law makes it easier for seniors to afford prescription drugs in the meantime. In 2010, more than 7,000 Vermonters received a $250 rebate to help cover the cost of their prescription drugs when they hit the doughnut hole. Last year, nearly 6,800 Vermonters with Medicare received a 50-percent discount on their covered brandname prescriptions, resulting in an average savings of $714 per person. Since the affordable care act was signed into law, more than 4,000 young adults in Vermont have gained health insurance coverage under these reforms, which allow young adults to stay on their parents’ plans until their 26th birthdays. The improvements we are seeing in Vermont go on and on: 81,649 Vermonters on Medicare and more than 100,000 Vermonters with private insurance gained access to and received preventative screening coverage with no deductible or copay. These are just a few of the dozens of consumer protections included in the law that are benefiting Vermonters and all Americans every day."
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| Imposing A Minimum Effective Tax Rate For High-Income Taxpayers—Motion To Proceed |
March 28, 2012 |
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Barbara Boxer, D-CA
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"As we stand here today, over 5 million seniors have saved more than $3 billion on their prescription drugs. The way it worked before this bill was passed, you would use up a certain amount of money and then you would fall into this coverage gap that they call a doughnut hole, and just when you are at your sickest point, you get no help. A lot of our seniors were not taking their medicines at that critical point because they could not afford the full cost; they were cutting the pills in half and praying. It was a sad situation. Because of health care reform, we have these seniors being able to keep their medications flowing. Last year in my State, 300,000 seniors were able to save $171 million in their costs."
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| Obama Cares |
March 27, 2012 |
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Colleen Hanabusa, D-HI
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"Think about what he looked at in 2008 and 2009. There were 50 million people who were uninsured at a cost of $116 billion a year. That could bankrupt any family. But with the Affordable Care Act, think about what you have: women no longer have to be worried about being discriminated against as a preexisting condition; seniors don’t have to worry, they can have preventative care and the doughnut hole will close; youth can be covered under their parents’ plan to the age of 26; and small business can avail themselves of a tax credit."
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| Health Care |
March 27, 2012 |
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John Rockefeller, D-WV
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"Another important group helped by health care reform is our Nation’s seniors, starting with lowering the cost of their Medicare prescription drug coverage. That is very important in West Virginia, as the Presiding Officer knows. Thanks to the new health care law almost 40,000 people with Medicare in West Virginia received a $250 rebate—they have already got it—to help cover the cost of their prescription drugs when they hit that famous doughnut hole in 2010. I will not bother to explain that."
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| Affordable Care Act |
March 26, 2012 |
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Max Baucus, D-MT
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"Prescription drugs are now cheaper for seniors because of the act. Already more than 5 million Medicare beneficiaries have saved more than $3 billion on drugs. Again, that is $3 billion saved by seniors on drugs, and health reform eliminates the so-called Medicare prescription drug doughnut hole. This puts dollars back in seniors’ pockets—dollars they can use for groceries or electricity bills."
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