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“Why does this all have to be so darn complicated? Need an accountant to figure it all out!”

Ask Congress.

You want to hear complicated?

Just listen to the rules - set in the law by Congress - for Medicare Part D (prescription drug benefit) if you fail to sign up for it at the same time you start Medicare. If you start late you can be penalized UNLESS all the time between start of Medicare and adding Pat D coverage you were in another “qualifying” prescription drug plan.

ON what theory was Congress operating on when it came up with that rule? When you were not immediately joined in Medicare Part D you were NOT imposing costs - for prescription drugs - on Medicare. You were imposing NO additional costs on Medicare, and in fact were taking care of your drug costs elsewhere, even if just out-of=pocket and not in another “qualifying” plan. So why the penalty> It makes no sense.

And how much is that penalty?

[The penalty for late enrollment in Medicare Part D is an extra 1% of the Part D premium for each full month you were eligible but didn’t have other creditable prescription drug coverage. This penalty is added to your monthly premium and you will pay it for as long as you have Medicare Part D drug coverage.]

So, if at age 65 you felt you did not need the Medicare Part D prescription drug plan, but decided to add Medicare Part D:

one year later, you’d have a premium 12% higher - forever
two years later, you’d have a premium 24% higher - forever
three years later, you’d have a premium 36% higher - forever
ect
ect

Does that make any sense??? NO!!!

For the first seven years after age 65, my health was fairly good and I needed little health care, and I never enrolled in Medicare Part D. As a veteran I was eligible and enrolled with the Veteran’s Health Benefit program, and for a while had a prescription drug issued by them. Thank God!!! I also had other drugs I had begun to get issued privately and paid for them out of pocket.

So in my seventh year of Medicare I found out about adding the Medicare Part D coverage. Had it not been for the VA acknowledging my enrollment with them, my Medicare Plan D premium would have been 89% above standard (89 months late) and it would have remained that way forever.

I cost medicare ZERO in those first seven years, but I was to be “penalized” for finally adding their Part D premiums to my monthly costs. Makes no sense.