Opinion: Medicare’s ‘catastrophic insurance’ can be a catastrophe for middle-income seniors
If you think Medicare will cover your drug costs, think again.
Pam Holt, a teacher and school administrator in Granger, Indiana, was looking forward to her retirement. After her husband died when she was 40, she raised three children alone. She paid into a pension, made Medicare and Social Security contributions, accumulated some savings, and was only three years away from paying off her mortgage when, at age 66, she was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer that originates in bone marrow. Fortunately for her, taking a pill called Revlimid, made by Celgene, can hold the disease at bay. But its cost began eating her up.
