Medicare
Part D Prescription Drug Program coverage is set to
begin on Jan. 1. People with employer-based retiree
coverage are being bombarded with private insurance
plans boasting coverage that is better than the
Medicare-and-employer-backed policies beneficiaries have
now. Many retirees, poor or not, may risk losing all of
their employer-based benefits, if they are not careful.
People with dual eligibility for Medicare and
Medicaid are enrolled automatically in Part D. Employers
supplying benefits coordinated with Medicare are not
being told which retirees are considered
"poor." This could mean some employees could
lose benefits that were more comprehensive than in the
new Part D.
Those eligible for Part D need to save every scrap of
paper, letter or notice they receive from their
retirement programs and the government.
According to an article by Albert B. Crenshaw of the
Washington Post, about 60 percent of large employers are
saying that if a retiree 65 or older signs up for
Medicare Part D, the employers will terminate that
person's drug coverage and, in many cases, all of his or
her health care coverage.
Some employer-based insurance programs are issuing a
letter, called a "creditable coverage
certificate," stating that the employer's plan is
as good or better than Medicare. Employees receiving
this certificate should keep it, because the
certificates will enable them to avoid late-enrollment
penalties, if a retiree signs up for Medicare Part D
later on.
Additionally, certificates of
"non-creditable" coverage are also being
issued, meaning beneficiaries could be penalized if they
sign up for Part D in the future. Retirees receiving
noncreditable certificates are urged to sign up, but
verification of employers' benefits is essential to
avoid any loss of other benefits.
Crenshaw states that employers with these
"creditable" plans are required to submit a
list of their participants to Medicare, which in turn
supplies it to the Medicare prescription-drug plans. If
a participant in such a plan turns up at a Medicare
prescription-drug-plan company, the company is to notify
the employer before allowing the retiree to sign up.
Presumably the employer will urge the retiree not to
sign up.
A report by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Hewitt
Associates, a benefits-consulting firm, says that the
employer cannot bar the retiree from signing up for Part
D, and experts worry that despite the safeguards,
"some retirees - faced with a fairly significant
change in their Medicare options - may sign up for a
Medicare prescription drug plan without realizing the
potential consequences in terms of forfeiting their
employer-sponsored benefits."
Many people lobbied for the passage of Medicare Part
D just to have a prescription drug benefit on the books,
and issues were pushed aside that are now surfacing. I
fear many more problems are still hidden, waiting for a
chance to emerge.
Before signing up, read the fine print, consult an
elder-law professional and save notes and papers. This
is no time to wait for hindsight.
McKee, a wheelchair user, is a poet and producer.
You can e-mail her at chairgrrl@chairgrrl.com.
Her column runs on Tuesdays.
