Okay, I know it is the season to be jolly, but it has been a while since I have had something to vent about.
When I signed up for Medicare two years ago (I know, hard to believe) I signed up for everything except Part D drug coverage. I had no prescriptions so why get coverage I didn’t need. Two years in, for a variety of reasons, I decided to sign up even though I still have no prescriptions. Just being conservative.
A week after receiving my approval letter from United Healthcare, I received another letter saying I would be charged a “Late Enrollment Penalty” fee on my monthly premium. Because I had two years of no coverage, they use that period to calculate the monthly penalty.
This will end up increasing my monthly premium by about 15%, but the penalty amount increases each year as the basic premium rate increases, and the penalty is one of those “forever” things, even if I switch to another plan. It never goes away!
So, to my friends who are approaching 65, and healthy, beware. While Part D is technically “voluntary,” the devil is in the details. If I live for 20 more years, it would have been 50% cheaper to enroll at 65 and pay those Part D premiums rather than waiting two years and pay the penalty for 20 years. I guess they really need the healthy ones to balance out those with multiple prescriptions. Because, of course, the premiums are not based on use.
Shame on me for not knowing….And shame on you if you don’t join us next Thursday for our webcast on the SNF investment market.
