Each year, a number of people who’ve been enrolled in Medicaid/Medicare Savings Programs lose their eligibility to have the state pay for their Medicare premiums.

 

When this happens, the federal government may charge the beneficiary a lump sum amount totaling up to three months of Part B premiums, i.e., $445.50 in 2021. For beneficiaries with limited income, the upfront costs upon loss of buy-in may cause significant financial burden.

 

Social Security has just updated instructions to direct SSA field offices to advise beneficiaries who cannot afford to pay the three months of premiums at once to request an installment plan or waiver of premium liability.    

 

The revised instructions clarify other information, including:

 

These revisions reflect updates and clarifications from the revised State Buy-in Manual, now referred to as the Manual for State Payment of Medicare Premiums, that CMS released in September 2020.

You can find the updates here: https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0600815021 and at:  https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0600815042   

If your clients encounter any issues with this, please let us know and we can relay back to CMS and SSA.

 

Brandy Bauer (she, her, hers)

Director, MIPPA Resource Center
571-527-3911
ncoa.org | @NCOAging

 

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