5. What happened for people who failed to enroll in a plan before December 31, 2005? Were they subject to a penalty?
No beneficiaries will be subjected to the premium penalty until they are without some form of creditable coverage after May 15, 2006.
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The Initial Enrollment Period began on November 15, 2005 and will end on May 15, 2006. Full dual-eligible beneficiaries who failed to enroll by December 31, 2005 were randomly auto-enrolled into Part D plans effective January 1, 2006.
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Other subsidy eligible beneficiaries who fail to enroll by May 15, 2006 will be randomly facilitated enrolled into Part D plans effective June 1, 2006.
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All other Medicare beneficiaries will have the opportunity to choose a Part D plan until May 15, 2006. Medicare beneficiaries who do not have creditable coverage and do not enroll by May 15, 2006 will incur a penalty premium when and if they do enroll in a Part D plan. This penalty premium is added to the cost of the Part D plan and will be in effect as long as the individual is enrolled in Part D. For 2007, the penalty premium will be 7% ($2.25 per month).
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Medicare beneficiaries who have creditable coverage and do not enroll by May 15, 2006 have no penalty upon their enrollment in Part D, provided the beneficiary does not go without creditable coverage for more than 63 days thereafter.
(Back to Questions about Penalties)
