It strikes me as quite reasonable to debate whether it was a good thing to establish Medicare, in the first place. (This, of course, was done as a part of LBJ's "Great Society.") Since it exists, however--and it surely is not going to be repealed (unless the US goes to UHC)--it does seem reasonable to inquire: Just why does the so-called "donut hole" even exist, as regarding Part D (i.e. prescription drugs)? (For those who are unaware, this gap, for 2018, runs from $2,700.00 to $7,508.75.) My wife (who has Part D coverage) just ran into this "donut hole." I simply cannot figure out the purpose of it--unless it is just to save the government some money.