U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-8) today announced that seniors and other Medicare beneficiaries who fallen in the gap in Part D prescription drug coverage will receive a one-time $250 rebate check in mid-June. The rebates were made possible by the Affordable Care Act of 2010, the landmark health insurance reform legislation President Barack Obama signed into law last March.

“The Bush Administration imposed a gap in seniors’ prescription drug benefits and offered them no relief whatsoever,” said Pascrell, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, which was one of the three committees of jurisdiction that helped craft the Affordable Care Act. “I am proud that the law will eventually close the gap in Medicare prescription drug coverage while maintaining full coverage for Medicare beneficiaries.”

The Affordable Care Act will completely close the doughnut hole by 2020.

In 2010, the standard benefit includes a $310 deductible and a 25 percent co-insurance until the enrollee reaches $2,830 in total covered drug spending. After this initial coverage limit is reached, there is a gap in coverage in which the enrollee is responsible for the full cost of the drugs (often called the “doughnut hole”) until total costs hit the threshold, $6,440 in 2010.

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