The Kaiser Family Foundation published a brief examining the health care reform bills’ effect on the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Program (Part D).  The brief outlines the changes the health care reform bills to close the Medicare Part D coverage gap, known as the "doughnut hole".

From the report: Since the Medicare Part D drug benefit took effect in 2006, beneficiaries enrolled in Part D plans have been required to pay 100 percent of their prescription drug costs after their total drug spending exceeds an initial coverage limit until they qualify for catastrophic coverage. The coverage gap is $3,610 in 2010 and is projected to exceed $6,000 by 2020. Most Part D plans have a coverage gap. In 2007, an estimated 3.4 million Part D enrollees (14 percent of all enrollees) reached the coverage gap.  The health reform law will reduce the amount that Medicare Part D enrollees are required to pay for their prescriptions when they reach the coverage gap, gradually phasing in different levels of subsidies for brand-name and generic drugs in the gap beginning in 2011.

Full report: Explaining Health Care Reform: Key Changes to the Medicare Part D Drug Benefit Coverage Gap (PDF | 220.78 KB)

The Kaiser Family Foundation.  (2010).  Explaining health care reform: key changes to the Medicare Part D drug benefit coverage gap.