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Families USA:
In 13 states next year, there will be no drug plans that offer coverage in the so-called "doughnut hole"---the big drug coverage gap in the Medicare Part D prescription drug program---for the top medicines prescribed to seniors, according to a new report issued today.
In 2006, there were only four such states, but the number of seniors without access to such doughnut hole coverage will increase from 375,000 to 6.6 million in 2007, an 18-fold increase.
In the 37 states and the District of Columbia in which plans will continue to offer such doughnut hole coverage, premiums for the lowest-priced Part D plans will increase by 87.4 percent, jumping from a median monthly price of $55.08 in 2006 to $103.20 in 2007 (an increase in annual premiums from $660.96 to $1,238.40).
The report, issued by the health consumer watchdog organization Families USA, contradicts the Bush Administration's claims that in 2007 "there will be more plans with coverage in the [doughnut hole] gap."
According to the report, the four states (Alaska, Hawaii, Maine, and New Hampshire) that did not have plans with meaningful doughnut hole coverage in 2006 will be joined by nine additional states (Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin) in 2007.
When a senior reaches that threshold, the senior has no coverage until his or her drug costs reach $5,100---a gap of $2,850.
Families USA is the national organization for health care consumers.
Posted on November 2, 2006 10:45 PM
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