Doughnut Hole is Not So Sweet

As recently reported here, in a study conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation, 26% of Medicare beneficiaries who filed using the prescription drug benefit "reached the coverage gap in 2007." Of these individuals, 15% were taking medication for chronic diseases, and quite taking meds during the gap. As Carloyn Clancy from Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality, warns:

"High drug costs are a barrier, but this is the first time we're seeing it documented so plainly. This raises concerns about the consequences for people with serious chronic conditions. There is a growing recognition that the doughnut hole is impairing people's access to medications."

As is further mentioned in the article, this will be an issue that the next administration will have to address. As seen in the post from this past Friday, it seems that the candidates are already aware of the problems, and have plans to address this troubling statistic.

Welcome to Doughnut Hole Season

In a recent article at the Dallas Morning News, they discuss the current stress one in five seniors is now facing until the end of the calendar year. Doughnut Hole Season is the time of year when low co-payments reach their gap in the drug coverage provided by Medicare, and, as a result, they are faced with staggeringly high payments for their medication. In 2007, 3.4 million seniors faced this situation.

Through the current program, seniors are responsible for full costs once all of Medicare’s payments (co-pays and deductibles) have reached $2150. They do not pick up payments again until citizens spending exceed $5726. However, only one in five will reach this amount.