Government
No penalty for low-income patients
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Jan. 29, 2007
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has eliminated the Medicare drug benefit's late enrollment penalty this year for any beneficiary eligible for additional government subsidies based on income.
Open enrollment for the 2007 plan year ended Dec. 31, 2006. Medicare beneficiaries are subject to a premium penalty of 1% for every month that they delay enrollment. By waiving this penalty for low-income beneficiaries, CMS hopes to encourage more enrollments.
Meanwhile, CMS estimates that the 10-year cost to the federal government of the Medicare drug benefit will be roughly $964 billion, down more than $100 billion from the agency's projection last July. Lower costs for Medicare stemming from competition among plans mean lower costs for seniors. Beneficiaries are paying an average premium of about $22 per month before co-payments, the agency said.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2007/01/29/gvbf0129.htm.
