Medicare rebate checks are in the mail

Federal government checks are being sent to Medicare recipients to cover some of their prescription drug costs.

Federal government checks are on their way to Medicare recipients to cover some of their prescription drug costs.

Medicare’s Part-D drug plan covers entirely people with modest prescription costs. And for those with very big drug bills, it kicks in at a higher amount. In between is the so-called donut hole that could cost seniors 36 hundred dollars.

This year 250 dollar checks are being sent to medicare recipients to cover a portion of the gap, but some scam artists are dialing seniors trying to gather information from people who don’t know they will get their check automatically. U-S Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania says seniors need to be careful about this scam.

“We’ve got some real creeps out there some scam artists who are trying to use this 250 dollar donut hole fill in the gap opportunity to make money and deceive some older citizens,” said Casey.

More than 188 thousand seniors in Pennsylvania hit the gap in 2009. Senator Casey says new federal healthcare legislation phases out the donut hole by 2020.