Wisconsin Senior Medicare Patrol

About 300,000 seniors still waiting for their $250 “donut hole” rebate for Medicare Part D could get the check in the mail at any time.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said this week that the checks were in the mail. This is the second round of checks sent; the first went out last month.

From the HHS news release:

The $250 checks are being mailed to those Medicare beneficiaries who entered the Medicare Part D donut hole, also known as the coverage gap, in the second quarter of 2010 and are not eligible for Medicare Extra Help (also known as the low-income subsidy or LIS) or enrolled in a qualified retiree prescription drug plan. The donut hole is the period in the prescription drug benefit in which the beneficiary pays 100 percent of the cost of their drugs until they reach the catastrophic coverage phase.

Medicare Extra Help provides assistance to seniors so they don’t face higher costs or a coverage gap in their prescription drug coverage. Qualifying Medicare beneficiaries who entered the donut hole in the first quarter of 2010 who were not eligible for Medicare Extra Help received a check in the first round of rebates mailed June 10^th. Going forward, a check for qualifying beneficiaries newly reaching the donut hole in 2010 will be mailed monthly.

For more information about the “donut hole” rebate checks, please contact www.HealthCare.gov or 1-800-MEDICARE.

For further questions about Extra Help (or the LIS) benefit under Part D, please contact the Social Security Administration at www.ssa.gov.