ATTENTION
PEOPLE WITH MEDICARE: NEW MEDICARE RULES
MEDICARE'S PRESCRIPTION DRUG PLAN WILL START JANUARY 1, 2006.
Here is how the Medicare prescription Drug Benefit will work.
- The estimated premium is $35 a month.
- You pay the first $250 and meet the annual deductible.
- From $251 to $2250 you pay 25% and Medicare pays 75%.
- From $2251 to $5100 you pay 100%, this is the coverage gap.
- Once you have spent $3600 out of your pocket the catastrophic
coverage begins. At that point you pay 5% and Medicare pays
95%.
Help is available for some of the cost. The Social Security Administration
will be mailing out Limited Income Subsidy Applications, starting
mid May 2005.
If you are an Individual whose income is at or below $14,450
with Assets below $10,000 or a couple whose income is at or below
$19,500 with Assets below $20,000. You may qualify for help with
your prescription benefit cost. You can fill out an application
online by going to http://www.socialsecurity.gov
or call and ask for a subsidy application at 1-800-772-1213.
This is a voluntary program, but if you are eligible and choose
not to enroll, unless you have equivalent coverage, when and if
you choose to sign up later, you will be penalized for signing
up late. The penalty is 1% of the premium cost for every month
you could have been on and were not.
If you are currently covered for prescription cost under any
other type of insurance your carrier will notify you in the fall
of 2005 and tell you if your coverage is equivalent to Medicare's
Prescription Plan.
Open enrollment will resume on November 15, 2006 and run through
December 31, 2006.
If you have Questions feel free to call your State Health Insurance
& Assistance Program (SHIP) at 802-885-6636
