With the new decade comes this long-awaited milestone: the Medicare Part D doughnut hole has closed. Two cheers.

More than 61 million Americans are Medicare beneficiaries, and about 46 million of those are enrolled in Part D. The doughnut hole, more formally called the coverage gap, has been one of Part D’s more detested features since the drug benefit took effect in 2006.

Part D initially suspended coverage at a certain dollar threshold, forcing beneficiaries to pay out of pocket for drugs until they hit a second threshold and coverage resumed.

In 2006, after meeting the deductible ($250 at the time), participants paid 25 percent of the negotiated cost of each prescription until the cost of their drugs totaled $2,250.