Medicare Woes

Medicare "doughnut hole" may be forcing many US seniors to forego diabetes medication.

HealthDay (1/7, Preidt) reported that, according to a study published online in Health Services Research, "Medicare's so-called 'doughnut hole' could be forcing many American seniors to skip their diabetes medications." Researchers examined the "effect of the doughnut hole on drug costs and diabetes medication adherence among participants in two large health systems that offered Medicare D plans," classifying "people...as adhering to their medication if they filled their prescriptions at least 80 percent of the time." The team found that "compared with those who had supplemental drug benefits, people with the doughnut-hole coverage had higher out-of-pocket drug costs and were more likely to skip their diabetes medications."