Sue has learned an extremely painful lesson,
which, in her case, will materially lower her living standard for the rest of
her life. The lesson is this: You can't trust that you are getting the real
story from Social Security and Medicare websites.
A single, 68 year-old lady, who I'll call Sue,
contacted me last week. She was absolutely besides herself. She recently
enrolled in traditional (Parts A, B, and D) Medicare and was hit with huge Part
B and Part D monthly premiums. She had no idea why it was so high. After many
letters, calls, and meetings with Social Security, she still had no idea.
Sue knew that you need to sign up at age 65
for Medicare Part A (hospital care) and Part B (outpatient care) if you don't
have employer-provided health insurance provided by a largish employer — an
employer with 20 or more employees. You can also sign up for Part D
(prescription drug insurance).
Sue also knew that if you aren't covered by
such an employer and don't sign up immediately, you face a penalty in the form
of a higher Part B premium and Part D for the rest of your life once when you
do sign up. But Sue, who is employed sporadically, understood that Medicare
provided an 8-month special enrollment period after one job ended to apply
penalty free. As things turned out, between ages 65 and 68, Sue had several
jobs with largish employers, but she was never between jobs for more than eight
months. Altogether, Sue was out of work for 25 months between age 65 and 68,
during which she wasn't enrolled in Medicare. But since none of her periods of
unemployment exceeded eight months, Sue figured that when she finally stopped
working this fall, at age 68, she could enroll penalty-free in traditional
Medicare (Parts A, B, and D).
How did Sue come away with this understanding?
She read statements on the Medicare.gov website, which are, at best, hard to
decipher, and, at worst, misleading. For example, she read, "Usually, you
don't pay a late enrollment penalty if you meet certain conditions that allow
you to sign up for Part B during a Special Enrollment Period." and
"You have 8 months to sign up for Part B without a penalty ... ."
Unfortunately, Sue got it wrong. In
determining if you need to permanently pay a Medicare Part B penalty, Medicare
counts all the months between age 65 and the month you first enroll in Part B
even if you, like Sue, had a series of jobs with a largish employer with no gap
between jobs extending beyond 8 months. Instead of being exempt from the
penalty because she was always in a special enrollment periods between jobs,
Sue was hit with a 20 percent lifetime Medicare Part B premium penalty! This is
calculated based off of Medicare's base premium, which is $144.60 for 2020.
Hence, Sue's penalty, this year, is $28.90 (.20 x $144.60) per month or $347.04
over the year. Moreover, since the base premium can rise, through time, faster
than the rate of inflation, Sue's real penalty (her penalty measured in today's
dollars) may be higher, indeed a lot higher, down the road.
Where does the 20 percent penalty rate come
from? For every 12 months that you're not covered by Medicare Part B after
reaching 65 and before you enroll, the penalty is an additional 10 percent. In
Sue's case, the 25 months encompass two 12-month periods, so she was hit with
two 10 percent penalties, i.e., a total penalty of 20 percent.
To make matters worse, Sue was also hit with a
Medicare Part D premium based on the cumulative (not consecutive) 25 months she
went without credible prescription drug coverage. The Part D penalty is
calculated according to the following.
Medicare calculates the penalty by multiplying
1% of the "national base beneficiary premium" ($32.74 in 2020) times
the number of full, uncovered months you didn't have Part D or creditable
coverage. The monthly premium is rounded to the nearest $.10 and added to your
monthly Part D premium.
(Note, "The monthly premium" in the
last sentence appears to be a typo. It should surely say "The monthly
penalty".)
In Sue's case, the 2020 penalty is 25 x .01 x
$32.74 or $8.185, would be rounded to $8.20 per month. This is $98.40 per year.
Together with the Part B penalty, Sue is facing over $440 in Medicare B and D
penalties this year and potentially even higher real penalties year in and year
out for the rest of her life. (Note, had Sue not qualified for Medicare Part A
on a premium-free basis, she would also have been hit with a Medicare Part A
late enrollment premium penalty.)
Unfortunately, this is not all the bad news
for Sue. Sue has very low earnings, even when she's working, but she does have
some assets she accumulated when young. She's by no means rich, but two years
ago she sold some of her assets and realized a capital gain. This kicked up her
2018 Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI), which, in turn, is forcing her to
pay, at least for 2020, the IRMAA (Income Related Monthly Adjustment Amount) .
If your MAGI, two years before the current year, is less than $87,000, you are
exempt from IRMAA in the current year. If it's higher, the extra additional
annual premium can range from $693.60 to $4,164. As for the the extra IRMAA In
Sue's case, she has to pay $1,735.20 more this year. Had she realized her
capital gains over several years, her 2018 MAGI would not have crossed the
$87,000 threshold and she would have saved the $1,735.20. Most people aren't
aware of the IRMAA and take capital gains in larger amounts than is needed.
Sue has learned an extremely painful lesson,
which, in her case, will materially lower her living standard for the rest of
her life. The lesson is this: You can't trust that you are getting the real
story from Social Security and Medicare websites. Medicare could have easily
provided on its site an example of how someone like Sue would be treated. It
could also have sent a warning message to everyone at, say, age 62 about its
Part B penalty, its Part D penalty, and its IRMAA rules — with copious simple
examples. It does not.
What's Sue's best move at this point? My only
thought is voting for Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren as they both provide
Medicare for everyone with no premiums, no penalties, no special high-income
premiums, no deductibles, no co-pays, and and no co-insurance.
P.S. Here is the main Program Operations
Manual System (POMS) reference on this: HI 01120.005 Life Changing Events.
For an explanation in less technical language,
see this
link to the form used to request a lower rate, which includes a
limited plain-English explanation of when the form should be used.
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