PART D ENROLLMENT EXTENDED FOR THOSE GIVEN INADEQUATE CHANGE NOTICE

Medicare Part D enrollment for 2007 has been extended for about 250,000 people with Medicare who did not receive timely information from their Part D prescription drug plan about changes to their coverage according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

CMS required prescription drug plans to send a notice of any changes in their coverage to people with Medicare by October 31, 2006, before the start of the enrollment period, to allow consumers enough time to consider their plan options for 2007. 

Plans that sent their notices after November 15 are required to notify affected members that they can still switch Part D plans until February 15, 2007.

The bulk of Part D enrollees who received late notices are enrolled in United HealthCare plans, one of the largest Part D providers. United HealthCare spokesperson Peter Ashkenaz said the notification was delayed due to last minute corrections to erroneous information and because of "a fire that delayed production" at a facility that printed the documents. According to CMS spokesperson Jeff Nelligan, the agency may penalize plans that did not notify their participants on time, and that CMS is required that plans inform affected members by January 5 of the extension.

-Adapted from Medicare Watch , a biweekly electronic newsletter of the Medicare Rights Center, Vol. 10, No. 1: January 9, 2007

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