Do I Have to Sign Up for Medicare Part D If I Am Still Working & Covered by My Employer?

Medicare gives you the option of paying only for the coverage you need. When you have Medicare Part A, you can add another type of Medicare coverage or complement Medicare with your group insurance, as long as your group insurance company works along with Medicare coverage. If you still have group insurance, you can choose whether to add a Medicare prescription drug plan (Part D).

Medicare Part D and Other Coverage

• Medicare Part D is a complement to original Medicare, which is hospital insurance (Part A) and medical insurance (Part B). You need to add Part D when you do not have any other insurance that offers you prescription drug coverage. If you add to your Medicare Part A and Part B a Medicare Part C plan (Medicare Advantage through a private insurer) that includes prescription drugs, you do not have to or need to add a Medicare Part D plan. However, if you want to, you can still do so. If you are still working and you have group insurance through your employer that offers you prescription drug coverage, you do not need to sign up for Medicare Part D.

When to Sign Up for Part D

• Once your group insurance coverage ends because you are no longer working (or you decide to drop it to add Medicare), you should sign up for Medicare Part D if you do not have any other insurance that provides you with prescription drug coverage. You should sign up for a Part D plan as soon as you can. You usually should not go 63 days in a row without an accredited prescription drug plan. If you do so, when you sign up for Part D, you are required to pay a late penalty. If Medicare believes you went 63 days in a row or more without prescription drug coverage, tell them that you had a group insurance that ended and that you were waiting for the enrollment period for Part D to start.

Enrollment Period

• The initial enrollment period for Medicare Part D starts three months before you turn 65 years old and ends three months afterwards and once you enroll either in Part A or Part B. If you have prescription drug coverage with your group insurance, you can sign up for Part D once it ends, at the next general enrollment period for Part D. As of 2011, the general enrollment period starts on October 15th and lasts until December 7th. If you do not want to enroll in Part D even after your group insurance ends, you are allowed to do so without further consequences until you do decide to enroll.

Penalty Amount

• If you enroll in Part D without having had an accredited coverage, the penalty amount applies to your monthly premiums for as long as you have Medicare Part D. As of 2011, the penalty is one percent of the national base beneficiary premium ($32.34) times the number of months that you did not enroll in Part D and did not have group insurance from another accredited prescription drug plan.