Kaiser Family Foundation: “This study quantifies, for the first time, the number of Medicare Part D plan enrollees in 2007 who reached a gap in their prescription drug coverage known as the “doughnut hole,” as well as the changes in beneficiaries’ use of medications and out-of-pocket spending after they reached that gap. The analysis excludes beneficiaries who receive low-income subsidies because they do not face a gap in coverage under their Medicare drug plan.

This study of Part D prescription drug utilization finds that one in four (26%) Part D enrollees who filled any prescriptions in 2007 reached the coverage gap. This also includes 22 percent who remained in the gap for the remainder of the year, and four percent who ultimately received catastrophic coverage. Applying this estimate to the entire population of Part D enrollees, the analysis suggests that about 3.4 million beneficiaries (14% of all Part D enrollees) reached the coverage gap and faced the full cost of their prescriptions in 2007.”