Home         Forums  

Go Back   Marrowforums > Practical Issues > Insurance, Finances, Disability, Veterans Benefits
Register FAQ Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Insurance, Finances, Disability, Veterans Benefits Your finances, insurance, job issues, and veterans benefits

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
  #1  
Old Fri Mar 13, 2009, 09:45 PM
helen c. helen c. is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: FL.
Posts: 57
What is the doughnut hole I have been reading about?

my husband has MDS raeb-1 intermediate he takes the vidaza injections 5 days followed by 5 days of neupogen procrit shots as needed he is transfusion independent right now had platlet infusion mon. the 9th of march and on 3 antibiotics daily hope i didnt leave anything out we have medicare and blue-cross blue shield thru the schoolboard so far we havnt had to pay very much out of pocket. what is the doughnut hole i have been reading about. this scares me we could not afford these meds. if it werent for ins.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old Sat Mar 14, 2009, 03:17 PM
Neil Cuadra Neil Cuadra is offline
Owner
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Los Angeles, California
Posts: 2,553
There is a good explanation of the Medicare coverage gap in Medicare and You 2009 (PDF, 5.9MB) from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). I will try to summarize.

Medicare Part D covers prescription drugs. What's covered depends on the specific Medicare Prescription Drug Plan you choose. As a patient on Medicare, you pay a monthly premium, plus a share of the cost of each drug prescription. The amount you pay varies during the year, and that's what can make it confusing. The "donut hole" refers to a coverage gap that is in most Medicare drug plans.

Here's the way it generally works. Note that I'm speaking in general, not about a particular person or plan, and the dollar amounts are only examples since they differ from plan to plan.

1. If your plan includes an annual deductible, then at the start of the year you pay for your own prescription drug costs until the deductible amount is reached. Example: If your deductible is $295, then you pay the first $295 of the year's drug costs. There are no surprises. You know you have to pay a few hundred dollars at the start of each year.

2. Once your deductible has been paid, Medicare helps pay for drugs. You pay only coinsurance or copayment amounts, until the total drug costs for the year have reached a certain total. Example: You pay only a small share of drug costs until the full cost of those drugs reaches $2700. So far in the year you've paid only hundreds of dollars, with Medicare paying for the rest of the first $2700.

3. After that limit, you are responsible for all prescription drug costs until you reach your annual out-of-pocket total. You are now in the "coverage gap" or "donut hole", and it can be expensive. You pay in full for prescription drugs until your total payments for the year (i.e., your deductible amount plus your coinsurance and copayment amounts) reach some fixed maximum. Example: You pay for all drugs until the total you've spent for the year is $4350.

4. Beyond your out-of-pocket total, Medicare provides you with so-called catastrophic coverage. You pay at most small coinsurance or copayment amounts, as in #2 above. Your share of a prescription might be $10 or less, so you aren't likely to spend much more for the year.

The CMS offers some tips on Bridging the coverage gap (PDF, 176K)
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old Thu Jul 8, 2010, 01:29 PM
Neil Cuadra Neil Cuadra is offline
Owner
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Los Angeles, California
Posts: 2,553
Update for 2010

See the new Medicare Part D page and Medicare Part D Calculator for information about the "donut hole" and how the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 will gradually close this coverage gap.
Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Marrow reading help? worriedmama Pediatrics 7 Thu Jul 13, 2017 10:27 PM
Reading a BMB Report 101 Sue&Dave MDS 8 Wed Jun 14, 2017 04:16 PM
Waiting, reading, driving myself crazy! Vicki K MDS 6 Tue Jul 17, 2012 01:31 PM
Reading PDF files Neil Cuadra Site Announcements 0 Thu Mar 29, 2007 01:38 PM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 06:50 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Forum sites may contain non-authoritative and unverified information.
Medical decisions should be made in consultation with qualified medical professionals.
Site contents exclusive of member posts Copyright © 2006-2020 Marrowforums.org