[Magdalen] health insurance

[Jim Guthrie]

From: Grace Cangialosi

>Yeah, where did that whole "do-nut hole" thing start, anyway? I fell into it 
>last year around October and expect to encounter it again this year.
>It absolutely makes no sense...

The Bush Administration put it into the Medicare Part D legislation as a way to 
keep it within (some sort of) budget.

>And I can't imagine what folks do if they're on  expensive meds and have to pay 
>full price for that period of time until they qualify again. I'll bet more than 
>a >few of them have to forego the meds.

Yup. Part D is still a godsend for Medicare recipients, and insurance plans 
sometimes include drugs or at least a subset at reasonable co-pays.

But everyone else? And those notes in the Big Parma ads that proclaim "If you 
can’t afford your medicine . . ." is a bit disingenuous. It's rare one can get a 
prescription that way the first month or two, and then "financial aid" is often 
good for only six months or so.

Cheers,
Jim