If you were one of our many clients that were fed up with the rising cost of Medigap Supplement premiums and decided to change to a Medicare Advantage Plan during the most recent Medicare Annual Enrollment Period, did you remember to cancel your Medigap Supplement at the end of December? If not, you were most likely already charged for your January premium – check your bank account if you had auto debit set up.
Getting Your Premium Refunds
If you find that you forgot to cancel and that you were charged for a January premium, you will need to call the member services (aka customer service) phone number on your Medigap Supplement ID card and explain that you have been covered by a Medicare Advantage Plan since January 1st and that you need them to do a retroactive cancellation back to December 31st and refund your January premiums. This refund could take 4-6 weeks to arrive and normally comes via check in the mail. You are not allowed to have both a Medigap Supplement and a Medicare Advantage Plan in effect at the same time.
Understanding Those Social Security Letters
The Medicare Advantage Plan enrollment would have automatically canceled your Part D stand-alone prescription drug plan, but it can take Social Security 60-90 days to reflect the change. In the meantime, they may continue to deduct the premiums for your old Part D plan from your Social Security benefit check (if that is the way you had it set up) or bank account. Once they make the correction in their system, you will receive a refund for any premium that was deducted in error. Now for those of you that switched to a Medicare Advantage plan earlier in the enrollment period, where Social Security did make the change already, you may have received or may receive a letter from Social Security stating that they will no longer be taking the premium for your Part D out of your benefit check. Don't panic – this is normal as most Medicare Advantage plans don't have a premium and Part D is included at no charge so there is nothing for them to take out. If you received a coupon book or an invoice for your old prescription drug plan, just disregard it.
As always, if you need help getting something resolved or don't know where to begin, don't hesitate to reach out to us at 602-281-3898. Our client care team is already ready to assist. We are here to make your Medicare journey 123Easy.
By American Retirement Advisors
American Retirement Advisors helps retirees and pre-retirees navigate Medicare, estate planning, and retirement income — so you can enjoy the retirement you've earned.
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Easy Eddie's Take
Let's take a look at this together. This is spot on about those timing issues with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Social Security Administration. Most people are surprised when they learn that these two systems don't talk to each other instantly. Here's the good news: you can have both a Medigap Supplement plan and a Medicare Advantage Plan for a short overlap period when you're switching, but you'll want to cancel the Medigap as soon as your new coverage starts to avoid paying double premiums.
One question that comes up all the time is "What happens to my Part D prescription drug coverage when I switch to Medicare Advantage?" Your Medicare Advantage plan automatically includes prescription drug coverage that meets Medicare's requirements, so your standalone Part D plan gets canceled. But the Social Security Administration can take up to 90 days to stop those premium deductions from your monthly Social Security benefit check. If you're getting invoices or coupon books from your old Part D plan during this period, just set them aside.
Think of it this way: during Medicare Annual Open Enrollment (October 15 through December 7 each year), you're essentially coordinating three different systems – your insurance company, Medicare, and Social Security. A little patience with the paperwork can save you from unnecessary worry, and that's what makes planning ahead 123easy.