Health News
Medicare's drug coverage "doughnut hole" shrinking
Posted: Nov 27, 2011 8:55 AM by Matt Stafford
Updated: Nov 28, 2011 9:45 AM
WASHINGTON (AP) - Medicare's prescription coverage gap is getting smaller and easier to manage this year for millions of older and disabled people with high drug costs.
That gap - known as the "doughnut hole" - will shrink about 40 percent for those unlucky enough to land in it this year. That's according to new Medicare figures in response to a request from The Associated Press.
The savings are thanks to discounts and other provisions in President Barack Obama's health care overhaul law.
It's roughly the difference between $1,500 without the law and $900 after the savings.
More than 2 million beneficiaries already have gotten some help.
But it's unclear if the discounts will overcome older people's skepticism about the law, which cut Medicare to expand coverage for the uninsured.
As Seen On News 5
