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If I Should Drop My Medicare Part D What Will Happen?

Medicare Part D is public insurance that covers the costs of prescription drugs. The Medicare program is run by the Social Security Administration and is administered in every state of the United States. To receive Medicare Part D benefits or drop your current benefits, you can contact the Social Security office in your state or enroll online.

  1. Understanding Medicare's Different Coverage Types

    • Medicare offers people who are eligible to start receiving benefits different options in which they can receive coverage. You can sign up for Part A and Part B and add to this coverage a prescription drug plan (Part D) plus any other supplemental coverage you need (Medigap). You also have the ability to sign up for Part A and Part B and add an advantage plan's coverage (Part C), which is private insurance. If your Part C plan includes prescription drug coverage, you do not need a Part D plan. If your plan does not have prescription drug coverage, you can add Part D. This opens the possibility of changing your coverage every year and dropping the coverage you have if you need to do so by adding new plans.

    Dropping Part D Coverage

    • If you need to drop your Part D coverage, you are allowed to do so during the enrollment period for Part C and Part D. The only consequence your decision might have is that if you do not have another plan that provides prescription drug coverage and later you want to enroll in Part D, you might need to pay a late penalty with your monthly premiums. If you never again join a prescription drug plan, the decision of dropping your coverage does not have any consequences on your other Medicare coverage. However, you should carefully consider your decision. If you know you will need prescription drug coverage later on, you should get a Part C plan that includes this coverage.

    Enrollment Period

    • As mentioned above, you can drop your Part D plan during the general enrollment periods for Part C and Part D. This period starts on October 15th and lasts until December 7th. During this period, you can completely drop your Part D coverage or switch from one prescription drug plan to another or change to an advantage plan (Part C). You can drop your coverage directly with your plan.

    Warnings

    • You must pay a late enrollment penalty if you do not have any prescription drug coverage for a period of time and you try to join a Part D plan after this period. However, you can avoid paying this penalty by constantly having accredited prescription drug coverage. You can add a Part C plan that includes it or you can have a group insurance or other accredited insurance that provides you with this coverage. Do not go longer than 63 days in a row without prescription drug insurance, and if you want to add a Part D plan, do it by the deadlines.

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