One year after the Affordable Care Act was signed into law on March 23, 2010, more than 256,000 Floridians who hit the Medicare prescription drug coverage gap known as the “donut hole” received $250 tax-free rebates, a new report released by the White House said on Monday. These residents will also receive a 50% discount on brand-named prescription drugs when they hit the donout hole this year.
According to the report, by 2020, 3.3 million beneficiaries who have Medicare will be receiving free preventive services, like mammograms and colonoscopies, as well as a free annual wellness visit from their doctor.
The report points out that 290,000 small businesses in Florida are receiving tax credits to help offset the cost of purchasing coverage for their employees and make premiums more affordable.
New coverage options are being offered as insurance companies are not required to allow parents to keep their children up to age 26 without job-based coverage on their insurance plans. An estimated 78,000 young adults in Florida could gain insurance coverage as a result of the law. And most insurance companies are now banned from denying coverage to children because of a pre-existing condition. An estimated 960,000 kids with a pre-existing condition in Florida will be protected because of this provision.
The report reminds that, the law bans insurance companies from imposing lifetime dollar limits on health benefits – freeing cancer patients and individuals suffering from other chronic diseases from having to worry about going without treatment because of their lifetime limits. The law also restricts the use of annual limits and bans them completely in 2014. This will protect 9.3 million million Florida residents with private insurance coverage from these limits.
Under the Affordable Care Act, States have been given the flexibility and resources needed to implement the law in the way that works for them.  So far, Florida has received $110.4 million from the Affordable Care Act, including:
- $1 million to plan for a Health Insurance Exchange
- $1 million to crack down on unreasonable insurance premium increases
- $14.5 million to support capital development in community health centers
- $22 million from the Prevention and Public Health Fund
- $26.2 million in Therapeutic Discovery Project Program Tax Credits and Grants
- $1.4 million for Medicare improvements for patients and providers
- $1.7 million for demonstration projects to address health professions workforce needs
- $515,013 for aging and disability resource centers
- $3 million to implement the National Background Check Program for long term care workers
- $3.4 million for Maternal, Infant and Childhood Home Visiting
- $35.7 million for the Money Follows the Person demonstration project
To read the complete report, visit: http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/rss_viewer/OneYearLaterFL.pdf.
