Dear Editor,

In 2007, 3.4 million Medicare recipients fell into the “doughnut hole” responsible for covering their entire drug costs, but also requiring them to pay their Medicare Part D premiums.

Nearly 20 percent of Medicare recipients delayed or did not fill a medical prescription because costs were too high. Medicare Part D coverage gaps are a big part of the problem.

This month, senators will be deciding whether to close the “doughnut hole;” and any health reform package that does not fix such a glaring problem with the current system would simply leave millions of older Americans behind.

Please pass on this information. We must close this doughnut hole.

Anthony (Tony) Brown

Andalusia