Seniors and other Medicare beneficiaries need to re-evaluate their Medicare plan options each year to ensure that they are enrolled in the most affordable prescription drug plan.
Saint Augustine, Florida (PRWEB) August 31, 2011
Q1Medicare.com now provides seniors and other Medicare beneficiaries with additional information on the upcoming 2012 Medicare Part D Prescription Drug plan year. In general, Medicare plan members can expect to see slight decreases in monthly plan premiums and people with a Late-Enrollment Premium Penalty will notice a slight reduction in their penalty payments. Even Medicare Part D beneficiaries with higher incomes can expect a slightly reduced 2012 Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount (or IRMAA).
Based on information released earlier this month from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), seniors can expect to pay slightly lower monthly premiums in 2012. However, seniors are reminded that the slightly lower 2012 average monthly premium figure does not mean that their current Medicare Part D plan premium will remain the same or be reduced next year. Rather, the 2012 premium average released from CMS only suggests that seniors will be able to shop around and find a 2012 Medicare prescription drug plan with about the same monthly premium as they are currently paying.
In addition, monthly premiums make up only a small part of the total costs paid by many seniors using their Medicare Part D plan. Prescription drugs included on a plan’s formulary and plan costs-sharing can change every year, even if a Medicare plan’s monthly premium stays the same.
“Seniors and other Medicare beneficiaries need to re-evaluate their Medicare plan options each year to ensure that they are enrolled in the most affordable prescription drug plan,” notes Dr. Susan Johnson, Technical Director of the Q1Medicare.com site and co-founder of Q1Group LLC. “To keep seniors informed, we now offer a free eMail Reminder Service found at Q1Medicare.com/RemindMe that will notify our users when we have the new 2012 Medicare Part D plan information online and they can begin evaluating new Medicare plans.”
Because of the slight reduction in the average monthly Medicare Part D premium, Medicare beneficiaries who accrued a Late-Enrollment Penalty (or LEP) will be pleasantly surprised to learn that their 2012 monthly penalty payment will be slightly reduced. Changes in the Late-Enrollment Penalty can be found at: Q1Medicare.com/LEP.
Additionally, Medicare beneficiaries with higher incomes will also get a slight break in 2012. For example, the Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount (or IRMAA) for singles with an income between $85,000 and $107,000 or married couples with an income between $170,000 and $214,000 will be $11.60 per month in 2012 down from $12.00 per month in 2011. More information on the 2012 IRMAA payments can be found at: Q1Medicare.com/IRMAA.
Along with the average monthly premium, CMS also released the Low-Income Subsidy (LIS) benchmark premiums for the 34 Medicare Part D PDP regions. Each of the stand-alone prescription drug plan regions sets a premium benchmark for the plan year. Basic benefit prescription drug plans with premiums under this benchmark can qualify for the $0 monthly premium for Medicare beneficiaries receiving full financial “Extra Help” from Medicare. A complete list of the 2012 Low Income Subsidy amounts with a comparison of past years can be found at: Q1Medicare.com/LISBenchmark.
The details of the 2012 Medicare Part D and Medicare Advantage plan information should be available in late-September or early-October and the 2012 Annual Enrollment Period will begin on Thursday, October 15 and continue through Wednesday, December 7, 2011 with Medicare plan coverage beginning on January 1, 2012.
About the Q1Medicare.com Website
Q1Medicare.com is one of the largest independent online resources for Medicare Part D prescription drug plan and Medicare Advantage plan information. Q1Medicare offers a large section of Frequently Asked Questions, online tools, and a free Medicare Part D Newsletter all designed to help Medicare beneficiaries, healthcare professionals, advocates, advisers, and insurance agents better understand both the Medicare Part D prescription drug and Medicare Advantage programs. Q1Medicare.com is operated by Q1Group LLC (Saint Augustine, Florida).
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