Close up image of a caretaker helping older woman walk

Medicare beneficiaries who fall into the Part D prescription drug coverage gap soon will receive checks for $250 to help cover the costs of the drugs, according to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

The first round of checks will be sent June 10, five days earlier than planned, the secretary said Thursday. The government then plans to send checks monthly as people fall into the coverage gap. Information on the $250 rebate, as well as a plan to close the coverage gap by 2019 and other effects of the healthcare reform law, is contained in a new brochure detailing changes to the Medicare benefit being sent to Medicare recipients this week.

Republicans have criticized the brochure as a “waste and inappropriate use of taxpayer money,” and have called for an investigation into whether or not the brochure constitutes illegal propagandizing. (McKnight’s, 5/28/10)