Into the donut hole

While I have been critical of health care reform, I do have complaints about my current health care plan. I'm on Medicare Part D, the prescription drug benefit with its infamous donut hole, a gap in coverage between $2,700 and $4,350. Here's how it works. You pay 100 percent of your drug costs while in this gap. In 2007, according to this report, about 25 percent of people on Part D or 3.4 million seniors reached the gap by July or August.

I use all the generics I can, but as a diabetic I still have several expensive prescriptions. Insulin is expensive, so are syringes and test strips. Of course my blood testing supplies are free, but apparently they still count toward my total drug cost and help to put me in the donut hole. So I'm really paying for them anyway, and that's not fair in my opinion. My test strips cost almost $1.50 apiece.

I also take an expensive blood pressure med because I am alergic to the cheaper ACE inhibitors. They give me a hacking cough.

I have just fallen in the donut hole and will probably remain in it until the end of the year. Has anyone ever tried to tell you about the free lunch?