KENNEDY, MENENDEZ CALL FOR HONEST ACCOUNTING OF MEDICARE DONUT HOLE Legislation introduced today will monitor the number of seniors falling into the hole and its effect on their health

WASHINGTON, D.C.--Today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy and Senator Robert Menendez introduced the Honest Medicare Act of 2006 to monitor the Medicare Part D donut hole and its effect on senior citizens.Under the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003, the Medicare Prescription Drug benefit, also known as Part D, was designed with a coverage gap in the middle. This gap is known as the “donut hole.” After their total prescription drug costs have reached $2,250, beneficiaries must bear the full cost of those drugs alone for the next $2,850, with no assistance. Yet they are still forced to pay their monthly premiums. Senator Kennedy said, “The Bush Administration and the Republican Congress enacted a Medicare drug law designed by the drug companies and for the drug companies. Millions of seniors will be denied the medicines they need because the law includes a gaping hole in the coverage -- and the Bush Administration won't even tell Congress and the American people how many seniors are at risk. The first step toward finding a realistic solution is to honestly define the problem. Our bill requires the Administration to level with the American people on how many seniors are losing coverage for the drugs they need to protect their health.” The Honest Medicare Act of 2006 would require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide a monthly report on the number of seniors who have fallen into the donut hole. It would also require the Secretary to monitor and report on the amount that enrollees are spending on prescription drugs while in the donut hole. “I have heard the heart-wrenching stories from my constituents who have fallen into the donut hole and are no longer covered for critical medicines,” said Menendez. “What we don’t know are the specifics of how many seniors have fallen into this hole and how much of their own money they’ve had to spend on prescriptions. With better information we can tackle this problem afflicting so many of our seniors.” Seniors are in danger of falling into the donut hole repeatedly and the Congressional Budget Office estimates that one-third of enrollees will enter the coverage gap every single year. Because of the structure of the plan, which is tied to the annual increase in drug expenses for Medicare beneficiaries, the donut hole itself will only grow larger and more difficult for individual seniors to manage, and the Commonwealth Fund estimates that it will increase to $5,066 by 2013. According to the Institute for America’s Future, the average Medicare beneficiary who enrolled in the drug program at the beginning of this year has already fallen into the donut hole; and nearly 7 million seniors this year alone will find themselves in this looming coverage gap.