[nfbwatlk] [nfb-talk] Fw: Waiver of the Late Enrollment Penalty for LIS and Katrina (fwd)

Tue Jun 20 16:11:47 CDT 2006

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Subject: [nfb-talk] Fw: Waiver of the Late Enrollment Penalty for LIS and
     	Katrina

----- Original Message -----
From: "Sherri" <fl_mom at bellsouth.net>
To: <fl_mom at earthlink.net>
Sent: Tuesday, June 20, 2006 4:35 PM
Subject: Fw: Waiver of the Late Enrollment Penalty for LIS and Katrina

----- Original Message -----
From: "Justice For All Moderator" <jfa at jfanow.org>
To: <justice at jfanow.org>
Sent: Tuesday, June 20, 2006 2:19 PM
Subject: Waiver of the Late Enrollment Penalty for LIS and Katrina

Waiver of the Late Enrollment Penalty for LIS and Katrina

Mark B. McClellan, M.D., Ph.D., the Administrator of the
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced a
demonstration program allowing certain Medicare beneficiaries
to enroll in a Medicare prescription drug plan with no penalty
through December 31, 2006. The program is available for seniors
and people with a disability who qualify for the extra help for
their Medicare prescription drug coverage, or who live in an
area affected by Hurricane Katrina. People who qualify for
extra help account for the vast majority of Medicare
beneficiaries who have not yet enrolled in Medicare Part D or
do not have other "creditable" coverage.

Department of Health & Human Services
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

Office of External Affairs
MEDICARE FACT SHEET
For Immediate Release
CONTACT: CMS Media Affairs
June 14, 2006
(202) 690-6145
______________________________________________________________

           Medicare Announces Special Election Period For
       Low-Income Beneficiaries and Those Affected By Katrina

Today's Action: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
(CMS) announced a demonstration program allowing certain
Medicare beneficiaries to enroll in a Medicare prescription
drug plan with no penalty through December 31, 2006. The
program is available for seniors and people with a disability
who qualify for the extra help for their Medicare prescription
drug coverage, or who live in an area affected by Hurricane
Katrina. People who qualify for extra help account for the vast
majority of Medicare beneficiaries who have not yet enrolled in
Medicare Part D or do not have other "creditable" coverage.

Eligible Beneficiaries
Late enrollment penalties will not be collected for certain
beneficiaries who enroll in a prescription drug plan under the
new Special Enrollment Period:

1. Individuals who enroll in the low-income subsidy; and
2. Individuals who were affected by Hurricane Katrina

Individuals who apply and are approved for the low-income
subsidy experience a significant change in status, in
particular, they become eligible for very comprehensive drug
coverage at low or no cost. With this change in status, they
have a special enrollment opportunity to enroll in a
prescription drug plan anytime throughout 2006. If they do not
enroll in a plan on their own, Medicare will facilitate their
enrollment into a prescription drug plan with a premium below
the low-income benchmark, but they will have the opportunity to
change plans before December 31, 2006.

Individuals who are affected by Hurricane Katrina will be
considered eligible for this demonstration as if, at the time
of the hurricane (August 2005), they resided in any of the
parishes or counties declared as meeting the level of
"individual assistance" by the Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA). FEMA has identified the parishes and counties
declared eligible for "individual assistance" as a result of
Hurricane Katrina and can be found at
www.fema.gov/news/disasters.fema?year=2005.

Timing/Duration
The demonstration program is limited to beneficiaries who
enroll beginning in June, 2006 through December, 2006. As long
as they stay continuously enrolled in a Part D plan, they will
not be assessed a late enrollment penalty. If they disenroll
after 2006 and do not have creditable coverage for a continuous
period of 63 days or more, they would then incur a late
enrollment penalty when they re-enroll in a plan.

Late enrollment penalties will not be collected for those
beneficiaries who enroll in a prescription drug plan under the
new Special Enrollment Period as a result of qualifying for the
low-income subsidy; or who were affected by Hurricane Katrina.
______________________________________________________________

For more Medicare's New Prescription Drug Plan news, see:
www.aapd.com/News/medicaredrugcoverage/

# # #

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