Temporary Change to Medicare Rules Offer Reprieve from Late-Enrollment Penalties

June 2017 ~

Medicare has temporarily changed its rules to offer a reprieve from penalizing consumers who may have missed deadline to enroll in Medicare and kept Affordable Care Act (ACA) policies after becoming eligible for Medicare.

Officially called “time-limited equitable relief,” the waiver offers reprieve from the usual penalty Medicare assesses when people delay signing up for Medicare’s Part B, which covers visits to the doctor and other outpatient care.

Medicare beneficiaries who already pay the penalty because they had a marketplace plan can request that it be eliminated or reduced. Once waiver requirements have been met, beneficiaries can request the waiting period (for coverage on people who do not sign up when first eligible) be lifted.

People ages 65 and older who have a marketplace plan or had one they lost or canceled, people who have a marketplace plan or had one they lost or canceled, as well as those who have qualified for Medicare due to a disability but chose to use marketplace plans, may qualify for the penalty waiver or a reduction.

Eligible beneficiaries have until September 30 to submit requests for a time-limited equitable relief waiver.

Source(s): Kaiser Health News; NPR; Medicare Report; Medicare.gov;