What is Part D?
Prescription drug coverage can be obtained one of two ways. The first is by purchasing a prescription drug plan known as a stand-alone Part D or it can be obtained by getting it as part of a Medicare Advantage Program (I discuss Medicare Advantage Programs in a different video). whichever way you decide to get drug coverage, it is known as Medicare Part D. Now if you do not get your prescription drug coverage during that initial 7 month window and you do not have a good reason for not having it, you will be locked out for the rest of the year without having any drug coverage and you will have to wait until the next open enrollment period to obtain coverage unless you are on Medi-cal/Medicaid were an exception can be made. The open enrollment period, which allows all Medicare beneficiaries the opportunity to review their coverages and determine whether or not they are satisfied starts on October 15th of each year and goes through to December 7th. If you are not satisfied with your coverages, you can make changes at this time.
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If you do not setup your drug coverage during your initial 7 month window and wait until the next open enrollment to sign up, your Medicare program typically will not start until January 1st of the following year. And if you are late getting drug coverage, for every month that went by without you having drug coverage when you could have had it, Medicare will impose a 1% penalty of the national average prescription drug premium.
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