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Some Seniors Quit Taking Medicine When Medicare Doughnut Hole Hits

Posted on August 22, 2008

Some 3.4 million Medicare beneficiaries hit the so-called doughnut hole in drug coverage last year and a sizable minority quit taking their medicine rather than pay full price out of pocket, a new report says.At last year s rate, Medicare beneficiaries were on the hook for prescription drugs after they incurred costs of $2,400. After a beneficiary spent $3,850 out-of-pocket, coverage kicked in again. That coverage gap is commonly referred to as the doughnut hole. (It doesn t apply to low-income seniors, who qualify for a subsidy.)A report released yesterday by the Kaiser Family Foundat...

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antidepressants , diabetes