CQ Politics: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made another bid to solidify support for Democrats' ambitious health care plans Friday, pledging to move aggressively to close the "doughnut hole" in Medicare drug coverage. Pelosi said the legislation she is negotiating with members of her caucus will give Medicare recipients who fall into the coverage gap an immediate 50 percent discount on brand-name prescriptions and shrink out-of-pocket costs by $500. The doughnut hole would be completely phased out by 2019, she said. ... She didn't say how much the new Part D plan would cost."
"Nancy A. LeaMond, executive vice president at AARP, said 26 percent of Medicare recipients enrolled in Part D plans fall into the doughnut hole each year in 17 states" (10/23)
Bloomberg reports that the coverage gap "begins when elderly recipients amass a certain amount of drug expenses, currently $2,700. Coverage resumes after recipients pay all of the next $3,454 in drug costs. ... A PhRMA spokesman, the trade group that represents drugmakers and negotiated changes to the doughnut hole with the Obama administration, declined to comment on the latest proposal. (Rowley and Litvan, 10/24).