Click here for the 2008 Wisconsin Guide to Health Insurance for People with Medicare

When Can I Join a Medicare Prescription Drug Plan?

If you’re currently entitled to Medicare Part A and/or enrolled in Medicare Part B you can sign up during the Annual Enrollment Period that runs from November 15 to December 31. Your Prescription Drug Plan will begin January 1, 2008. If you are eligible and miss the December 31 deadline, you may have to pay a government penalty of at least 1% more for every month you wait to enroll in a Medicare prescription drug plan (unless you have creditable prescription drug coverage – drug coverage that is at least as good as the standard Medicare prescription drug coverage). You may also be required to wait until the next Annual Enrollment Period to join a plan.

There may be other special circumstances that allow you to enroll at another time of year, such as:

• You turn 65: You can sign up during the three months before your birthday, the month of your birthday, and the three months after.
• Your employer or union stops offering creditable prescription drug coverage.
• You get Medicare due to a disability.
• You receive full Medicaid coverage.

Who needs a Medicare supplement insurance policy?

Original Medicare pays for many health care services and supplies, but it doesn’t pay all of your health care costs. You must pay these gaps in Medicare coverage, which are often deductibles, coinsurance and co-payments.

For a monthly premium, the Medicare supplement insurance policy helps you pay all or some of these costs, depending on the optional benefits you choose. 

A Medicare supplement insurance policy is for people on Medicare who want:

• Help paying for some health care costs
• To keep their own doctors and hospitals and choose their specialists and other health care providers
• To budget for the premium and not worry about high out-of-pocket expenses
• First-dollar coverage – don’t have to pay deductibles or co-payments every time they see a doctor  
• Their benefits to increase along with Medicare’s deductibles and co-payments
• To be covered everywhere in the U.S.
• Their providers to file the claims so they don’t have to hassle with paperwork

Your Out-of-Pocket Costs with Medicare (as of 1/2008):

Part A: Inpatient Hospital

Part B: Supplemental Medical Coverage

*Reflects 2008 Medicare program