Terry Turner, writer and researcher for RetireGuide
  • Written by
    Terry Turner

    Terry Turner

    Senior Financial Writer and Financial Wellness Facilitator

    Terry Turner has more than 35 years of journalism experience, including covering benefits, spending and congressional action on federal programs such as Social Security and Medicare. He is a Certified Financial Wellness Facilitator through the National Wellness Institute and the Foundation for Financial Wellness and a member of the Association for Financial Counseling & Planning Education (AFCPE®).

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  • Edited By
    Matt Mauney
    Matt Mauney, Senior Editor for RetireGuide

    Matt Mauney

    Financial Editor

    Matt Mauney is an award-winning journalist, editor, writer and content strategist with more than 15 years of professional experience working for nationally recognized newspapers and digital brands. He has contributed content for ChicagoTribune.com, LATimes.com, The Hill and the American Cancer Society, and he was part of the Orlando Sentinel digital staff that was named a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2017.

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  • Published: May 14, 2020
  • Updated: January 17, 2023
  • 5 min read time
  • This page features 12 Cited Research Articles
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How to Cite RetireGuide.com's Article

APA Turner, T. (2023, January 17). Medicare Part D Donut Hole. RetireGuide.com. Retrieved March 28, 2023, from https://www.retireguide.com/medicare/part-d/donut-hole/

MLA Turner, Terry. "Medicare Part D Donut Hole." RetireGuide.com, 17 Jan 2023, https://www.retireguide.com/medicare/part-d/donut-hole/.

Chicago Turner, Terry. "Medicare Part D Donut Hole." RetireGuide.com. Last modified January 17, 2023. https://www.retireguide.com/medicare/part-d/donut-hole/.

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Key Takeaways
  • In 2012, the Affordable Care Act started including discounts to help close the Medicare coverage gap. Those discounts increased gradually each year until the donut hole “closed” completely in 2020. Now, you’ll pay no more than 25% of your plan’s cost for brand-name and generic prescriptions while in the coverage gap.
  • Not everyone enrolled in a Part D plan will reach the donut hole. However, once the donut hole is reached, chances are you will continue to do so year after year.
  • You are able to get out of the donut hole once you hit a certain threshold. In 2023, you will have to have paid $7,400 in out-of-pocket costs for covered drugs. Then you will enter catastrophic coverage, the level where you only pay a small copayment or coinsurance for medications.

What Is the Medicare Donut Hole?

When Medicare Part D began in 2006, the prescription drug plans under it adopted the “donut hole” nickname to describe the coverage gap within the plans. Congress included a coverage gap in Part D plans as a way to reduce the overall cost of the prescription drug program.

There are four benefit stages under Medicare Part D:
Deductible
What you pay out-of-pocket before the plan starts paying. Part D deductibles vary by plan.
Initial Coverage
You pay coinsurance for every medication. Most plans also charge a copayment, or fixed amount, such as $10.
Coverage Gap
A temporary limit on what the Part D drug plan will cover. The coverage gap, or donut hole, hits once you and your plan spend $4,660 covered drugs in 2023.
Catastrophic Coverage
Once you’ve spent $7,400 out-of-pocket in 2023, you are out of the coverage gap and enter catastrophic coverage. At this stage, you only pay a small coinsurance fee or copayment for prescriptions for the rest of the year.

In the early years of Medicare Part D, once a beneficiary and their plan reached the spending limit of the initial coverage stage, the beneficiary would enter the donut hole and would then be responsible for all medication costs at that stage.

Starting in 2012, the Affordable Care Act included discounts to help close the Medicare coverage gap. Those discounts increased gradually each year until the donut hole “closed” completely in 2020.

However, this does not mean that Part D plans are free after reaching the coverage gap stage.

As of Jan. 1, 2020, you’ll pay no more than 25 percent of your plan’s cost for brand-name and generic prescriptions while in the coverage gap. You will avoid the coverage gap altogether if you qualify for Medicare’s Extra Help program.

Did You Know?
About 75 percent of all Medicare beneficiaries, or roughly 46 million people, are covered by a Part D drug plan.
Source: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission

When Do You Enter the Medicare Donut Hole?

Not everyone enrolled in a Part D plan will reach the donut hole. For 2023, you are in the coverage gap once you and your plan have spent $4,660 on covered drugs.

This is called your initial coverage limit or donut hole entry point, and it may — and probably will — change each year.

You are more likely to enter the coverage gap if you take three or four brand-name prescription drugs, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Once you reach the donut hole, chances are you will do so year after year, even if the initial coverage limit increases. Spending on medications typically goes up as you age. Drug prices may increase, or you might need more prescriptions to treat health conditions.

Did You Know?
4.9 million Medicare Part D beneficiaries reached the coverage gap in 2017.
Source: Kaiser Family Foundation

Costs in Medicare Coverage Gap

In the past, beneficiaries were responsible for a higher percentage of drug costs when in the Medicare coverage gap. Since the donut hole closed for all drugs in 2020, you now pay 25 percent of the costs of your prescriptions after entering the coverage gap.

This may yield little change from what you paid in the initial coverage period, or it may result in significant increases for expensive brand-name drugs.

Insurance companies that offer Medicare Part D coverage use tiers in its formulary to group and price medications. Costs increase the higher the tier, with the specialty tier representing the highest copay and the most expensive prescription drugs. A plan can change the tier of a drug each calendar year, known as a formulary change.

If you primarily take Tier 1 generic medications, the amount you pay likely won’t change much in the coverage gap. But if you take even one generic or brand-name drug in the specialty tier, the 25 percent requirement could result in high out-of-pocket costs.

If a drug retails for $2,500 a month, you pay:
  • $135 a month with 5 percent coinsurance and a $10 copay in the initial coverage period.
  • $625 a month once you reach the initial coverage limit of $4,020, which you would hit after two months.

How Do You Get Out of the Donut Hole?

In 2023, you leave the Medicare Part D coverage gap once you have paid $7,400 in out-of-pocket costs for covered drugs. At this point, you enter what is known as catastrophic coverage, where you only pay a small copayment or coinsurance for medications.

This only applies to direct costs to you, not the amount your plan has paid. So, if you are in the coverage gap and paying $1,500 a month for your prescriptions, you would exit the donut hole after five months.

Once you’re in the catastrophic coverage stage, you remain there for the remainder of the year.

Did You Know?
Nearly three million Medicare Part D beneficiaries experienced out-of-pocket spending above the catastrophic coverage threshold in at least one year over a recent five-year period.
Source: Kaiser Family Foundation
Last Modified: January 17, 2023
Terry Turner, writer and researcher for RetireGuide
Terry Turner Senior Financial Writer and Financial Wellness Facilitator
  • Certified as a Financial Wellness Facilitator
  • Holds six Health Literacy certificates from the CDC
  • Emmy® Award winner
View Bio
Edited By
Matt Mauney, Senior Editor for RetireGuide
Matt Mauney Financial Editor
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12 Cited Research Articles

  1. Cubanski, J. (2021, July 23). Millions of Medicare Part D Enrollees Have Had Out-of-Pocket Drug Spending Above the Catastrophic Threshold Over Time. Retrieved from https://www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/millions-of-medicare-part-d-enrollees-have-had-out-of-pocket-drug-spending-above-the-catastrophic-threshold-over-time/
  2. Omdahl, D. (2020, January 21). The Medicare Part D Drug Plan Donut Hole Is Closed. What Does That Mean? Retrieved from
  3. https://www.forbes.com/sites/dianeomdahl/2020/01/21/the-medicare-part-d-drug-plan-donut-hole-is-closed-what-does-that-mean/
  4. Span, P. (2020, January 17). Medicare’s Part D Doughnut Hole Has Closed! Mostly. Sorta. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/17/health/medicare-drug-costs.html
  5. Kaiser Family Foundation. (2019, November 13). An Overview of the Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Benefit. Retrieved from https://www.kff.org/medicare/fact-sheet/an-overview-of-the-medicare-part-d-prescription-drug-benefit/
  6. Cubanski, J. and Neuman, T. (2019, October 11). How Will The Medicare Part D Benefit Change Under Current Law and Leading Proposals? Retrieved from https://www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/how-will-the-medicare-part-d-benefit-change-under-current-law-and-leading-proposals/
  7. Cole, M. and Brantley, K. (2019, August 28). 3.7M Part D Beneficiaries Are Projected to Reach the Catastrophic Phase in 2020. Retrieved from https://avalere.com/insights/3-7m-part-d-beneficiaries-are-projected-to-reach-the-catastrophic-phase-in-2020#
  8. Medicare Payment Advisory Commission. (2019, March). The Medicare prescription drug program (Part D) Status Report. Retrieved from https://www.medpac.gov/wp-content/uploads/import_data/scrape_files/docs/default-source/reports/mar19_medpac_ch14_sec.pdf
  9. Medicare.gov. (n.d.). Costs in the coverage gap. Retrieved from https://www.medicare.gov/drug-coverage-part-d/costs-for-medicare-drug-coverage/costs-in-the-coverage-gap
  10. Medicare.gov. (n.d.). 6 tips for choosing Medicare drug coverage. Retrieved from https://www.medicare.gov/drug-coverage-part-d/how-to-get-prescription-drug-coverage/6-tips-for-choosing-medicare-drug-coverage#
  11. Medicare.gov. (n.d.). How to get prescription drug coverage. Retrieved from https://www.medicare.gov/drug-coverage-part-d/how-to-get-prescription-drug-coverage
  12. HealthCare.gov. (n.d.). Donut Hole, Medicare Prescription Drug. Retrieved from https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/donut-hole-medicare-prescription-drug/