Jose M. Flores, a Medicare beneficiary who lives outside McAllen, used the new drug benefit four times from January to April to purchase Byetta, an injectable medicine for diabetes. Each time he paid $40.

So when he went to the pharmacy on May 25, he was dismayed to be told that he owed $167.56 for the next month's supply. Mr. Flores had reached the notorious gap in Medicare's drug coverage. He had to pay the full price of Byetta. His Medicare drug plan paid nothing.

"It's almost useless," said Mr. Flores, a 66-year-old school bus mechanic who was interviewed at his home in La Joya, Tex. "I'm paying the premium, but not getting protection."

Millions of beneficiaries will have similar experiences, as the cost of their drugs reaches the initial coverage limit of $2,250. Like Mr. Flores, they will have to pay the full cost of each medicine until their out-of-pocket costs reach $3,600. At that point, Medicare coverage resumes, paying 95 percent of the cost of each prescription.

On May 2, Mr. Flores paid $20 for Plavix, a blood thinner used to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke, and Medicare paid $109.62. But when he refilled the prescription at the end of May, he was in the coverage gap, so he had to pay the full amount, $129.62.

Mr. Flores is angry with Medicare, with his drug plan and even with the pharmacists who try to help him. He says no one told him about the coverage gap when he signed up.

Vanessa M. Recio, a pharmacist at Saenz Medical Pharmacy in Mission, Tex., said: "All I do all day is talk to angry patients. I process insurance claims and try to solve problems with Medicare."

[...] http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/11/us/11medicare.htm

Mr. Flores experience is played out hundreds of times every day. Fortunately, there is help for diabetics and other life treatening illnesses.

A combination of herbs researched at a Canadian University for over 20 years was hailed by the Asian Diabetic Association as "The Final Cure for Diabetes." Research shows that a natural diabetes remedy can regulate blood sugar and eliminate the need for painful injections. The herbs Banaba, Guggle, Bitter Melon, Licorice extract, Cinnamon herb powder, Gymnema Sylvestre, Yarrow, Cayenne, Juniper Berries, Huckleberry, and Vanadyl Sulfate each have an important role to play in a scientifically engineered formulation that is proven to successfully go to the cellular level to lower your blood sugar level, lower your insulin resistance, and increase insulin production. This scientifically proven formulation is available under the brand name Diamaxol.

The diagnosing, treatment, and testing of Diabetes brings in over $10 Million Dollars every hour of the day to Doctors, Pharmaceutical companies, and testing supply businesses. With that much money on the line the medical, pharmaceutical and testing supply companies will go to extreme lengths to silence information about natural treatment of diabetes. It was widely reported that one company, which had successful results with an herbal treatment, was offered $30,000,000 to take the product off the market. Fortunately the recent education thrust on the benefits of natural health treatment has made it possible for companies with natural products to resist such pressure.