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Medicare Coverage Gap May Cause Seniors to Forgo Antidepressants
Study also found less use of heart failure, diabetes drugs as out-of-pocket costs rose
MONDAY, July 2 (HealthDay News) -- The Medicare Part D drug plan's gap in coverage -- often referred to as the "donut hole" -- has long been a concern, and a new study links it to cutbacks by seniors in the use of antidepressants and other medications.
An estimated 13 percent of seniors aged 65 and older suffer from depression, experts say. Antidepressants can stop depression from returning, but the Part D benefit -- especially the coverage gap -- "imposes a serious risk for discontinuing maintenance antidepressant pharmacotherapy among senior beneficiaries," the study authors found.
The study, published in the July issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, also found less use of drugs prescribed to treat heart failure and diabetes among seniors who fell into the coverage gap.
While the 2010 Affordable Care Act is shrinking the "donut hole," it won't be fully closed until 2020.
