Devoted to the Insurance industry and all thing related

A survey of 750 Medicare Part D prescription drug plan participants revealed that “roughly 7% of Medicare beneficiaries who ran out of routine drug benefits in 2006 stopped taking their medications while they were “in the donut hole” according to National Underwriter.  GfK U.S. Healthcare Companies conducted the survey.

Some of the results include the following:

• About 20% of patients who were in a Part D plan before November 2006 ended up in the donut hole

• About 51% of those patients reacted to the gap by shifting to a cheaper generic product or by asking physicians for samples

• 21% reacted by using medications less often than prescribed.

Medicare Part D is a program that “provides coverage for routine drug use, and it also provides catastrophic coverage for beneficiaries whose prescription expenses exceed a designated level.”  However, that Medicare gap can be a big one, especially if a person doesn’t have state Medicaid coverage.  It’s truly a bad sign for our health care system when 21% of people falling into the gap are using medications less often than prescribed.