The doughnut hole

First, I am doing extremely well with my blood sugar. I finally started paying attention to when I am full, and I was surprised at how little I can eat and still feel full. Also, as I indicated before I changed injection sites from my thigh to my stomach and have been getting great test results. So both together have been doing great.

The famous Doughnut Hole - something to look forward to when you get on Medicare. Doesn't make any difference whether it's original Medicare and a drug plan or one of the Medicare advantage plans, the doughnut hole is still there.

I have been on a Medicare advantage plan for eight years. There have been a number of years when I thought I was gonna fall in that hole, but through careful management managed to escape.

This year I fell in with no warning. There would have been one If I had been keeping better tabs on my drug expenses so it's partly my fault. I have three prescriptions that I get through my insurance because there is no generic for them. I get as many through Walmart's cash program as possible, and some I get over the counter.

Anyway, I was refilling an Rx online and got to the check out. What would normally have been $125 for three was now $295. That was only one, I still had another RX that would be due soon.I decided not to get the refill.

Thankfully I had just refilled my insulin at the normal price. I don't think though I have enough to last until the end of the year. Since I am T2, I can do without it for a few weeks. If that one RX was that high, I shudder to see what my Levemir would be.

Ain't life grand. I can't describe the sinking feeling I had when this happened. It took me about a day before I realized that without these three Rxs I wasn't gonna die. My blood pressure might rise some, and my blood sugar probably will, but I might be able to con my doctor out of some samples of Levemir when I see him in November. Who knows. I do know though that the world isn't gonna end just because I've fallen down the doughnut hole. Better than falling down the rabbit hole.

Have you checked to see if you are eligible for Low Income Subsidy Extra Help?

Yes, I’ve checked. We make too much. Not much, but enough that we don’t qualify.