Medicare Part D is the drug portion of Medicare coverage. It is designed to assist with the overwhelming cost of medications, but there is one major flaw in their design – the gap in coverage called the “doughnut hole”. This is when the enrollee is responsible for covering the entire cost for their medications between $2,700 and $4,350. Studies show that one in four Part D enrollees reached the doughnut hole in 2007, and numbers have only increased since then.
 
What does this mean? Considering seniors are often living on very fixed incomes, these out of pocket expenses are too high, and results in medications being halved to make them last longer, or dosages being skipped altogether. This, of course, can create a very dangerous situation to these individuals, which clearly shows that something needs to be done.
 
One of the most important changes that can help to relive some of this burden would be a break in the costs of the medications themselves. Turning to the drug manufacturers has proven helpful, as they have agreed to reduce Medicare drug costs in a number of ways. From forgoing $80 billion dollars in revenues to offering substantial discounts in the medications themselves, it seems like the drug companies and Medicare drug coverage is headed in the right direction. We can only hope things continue to improve, and coverage for seniors remains comprehensive.