A Message on Health-Care Reform From the AARP President

If you have Medicare Part D prescription-drug coverage and you're approaching the $2,700 limit, you may be getting worried. 

Consider this all-too-typical example: With some insurance plans, Lipitor, a cholesterol-lowering drug, costs $39 a month. But it jumps to the full price of $99 once you pass the limit. And it'll stay there until you've shelled out another $3,454 for all your meds and crossed the coverage gap—known as the "doughnut hole"—when insurance kicks in again.

The best way to manage that hole? Don't fall into it. AARP's online calculator can help you find similar, less costly meds (if you'd been taking a generic for cholesterol you could have been paying $7 a month). The site even tells you how to ask your doctor about changing your prescription.