AARP Launches New Advocacy Campaign to Protect Seniors From High Drug Costs

AARP has announced the launch of a new advocacy campaign urging Congress to resist the pharmaceutical industry and protect seniors from attempts to hike patient drug costs by reversing the Medicare Part D doughnut hole deal, reports Benzinga . The multimedia push includes national TV, radio, digital, and print ads scheduled to run in Washington, D.C., and certain battleground states around the country. "AARP strongly supports the deal reached around Medicare Part D doughnut hole coverage in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, providing financial relief for millions of seniors who find themselves saddled with high drug costs," said AARP Executive Vice President Nancy LeaMond. "Despite what the pharmaceutical lobby would like Congress to believe, going back on the deal is not a 'technical fix.' It's time the industry put people over profits." Older Americans who depend on Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage take 4.5 prescription medications on average and are particularly hard-hit by rising costs. The new Part D doughnut hole provisions are designed to save beneficiaries billions of dollars in out-of-pocket costs on drugs by processing them through the drug coverage gap faster and reducing co-payments.