Entering the black hole of Medicare drug reform

This should not have been a surprise:

Seven million Americans enrolled in the new Medicare drug plan are facing a massive gap in benefits that will force them to pay out of pocket for pricey prescriptions, a state advocacy group said Wednesday.

Here is what I wrote way back when:

Overall, the drug plan is rather complicated. Seniors will pay about $420 a year for drug coverage and have to meet a $250 deductible, after which the plan pays 75 percent of the next $2,000, up to total drug costs of $2,250. Once they hit that magic number, seniors must pay all of their next $1,350 in prescription costs out of their own pockets. After spending $3,600 for the year, the new insurance would again kick in, picking up 95 percent of the rest.

All told, seniors will be asked to pay $2,100 of the first $3,600 in prescription costs themselves, not including the premium — a rather large nut for seniors to crack.

So now, for most seniors, they are entering the doughnut hole — more accurately described as the black hole — and they will be forced to remain there the rest of the year. I wonder what Tom Kean and the rest of his party have to say about that.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press

Author: hankkalet

Hank Kalet is a poet and freelance journalist. He is the economic needs reporter for NJ Spotlight, teaches journalism at Rutgers University and writing at Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College. He writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and New York Knicks, drinks too much coffee and attends as many Bruce Springsteen concerts as his meager finances will allow. He lives in South Brunswick with his wife Annie. View all posts by hankkalet