NY Medicare recipients set to save hundreds from prescription drug costs.

(WENY) -- Prescription drug costs have often been a financial burden for seniors on Medicare but a new resolution is set to put more money in the pockets of elderly New Yorkers.
For older New Yorkers, prescription drug costs can eliminate financial safety nets and create unwanted stress. Medications for ailments such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, cardiovascular disease, and pulmonary fibrosis can cost upwards of $10,000 per drug.
However a new regulation included within the Inflation Reduction Act is capping costs for lifesaving medications. Seniors on Medicare throughout the Empire State will now see their out-of-pocket prescription drug costs capped at $3,300 a year.
Any prescription drug expenses beyond the $3,300 threshold will be paid for through the new regulations. At the start of 2025, the cap will decrease further to just $2,000 a year. The Inflation Reduction Act has also capped prescription insulin for Medicare recipients to $35.
"The cost to you will go way down. We all know someone who had a previously clean bill of health and it's told they have something like cancer, cystic fibrosis, need an organ transplant. You can't plan for it. You don't have to, it comes out of the blue and it upends your entire world and diagnoses like that could be more than $10,000 a month the way these drugs cost so much anymore." said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer who served as one of the top legislators that worked on the Inflation Reduction Act.
The cost capping measures are set to benefit the more than three million New Yorkers currently on Medicare. Estimates show that seniors can expect to save $212 a month in 2024, and $390 a month in 2025.