Let’s hope so……….

Medicare beneficiaries with high drug costs “increasingly” are entering the gap in Medicare prescription drug coverage known as the doughnut hole, and experts say the issue could have political implications for the congressional elections in November, USA Today reports (Wolf, USA Today, 7/27). Under the doughnut hole provision of the Medicare prescription drug benefit, beneficiaries are responsible for 100% of total prescription drug costs between $2,250 and $5,100. Medicare then covers 95% of prescription drug costs beyond $5,100. Estimates vary on how many beneficiaries will reach the doughnut hole this year. According to a report released earlier this month by the advocacy groups Institute for America’s Future and New Jersey Citizen Action, seven million beneficiaries will be affected by the doughnut hole this year (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 7/13). A study by PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates 3.4 million beneficiaries will reach the coverage gap this year. According to USA Today, “[m]any people with expensive medical conditions such as AIDS, cancer and multiple sclerosis have reached the gap already,” while “others, such as those with diabetes and mental illness, are entering it now or will soon.” Nancy Ordover of Gay Men’s Health Crisis said the doughnut hole is “starting to have a deterrent effect” as some beneficiaries with HIV/AIDS interrupt their treatment regimens because of cost. Kim Calder of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society said many beneficiaries with MS were “very shocked” when drug makers ended assistance programs for treatments after the new coverage began.

Full article at Medical News Today

Email this Post  | RSS 2.0  |  Trackback  |  Filed under: Health Care