Murkowski Joins Bipartisan Effort to Eliminate Medicare Late Enrollment Penalty for 2006

MURKOWSKI JOINS BIPARTISAN EFFORT TO ELIMINATE MEDICARE LATE ENROLLMENT PENALTY FOR 2006

SENATOR IS ONE OF 16 ORIGINAL CO-SPONSORS OF THE MEDICARE LATE ENROLLMENT ACT OF 2006

Senator Lisa Murkowski has joined a bipartisan effort in the U.S. Senate to eliminate the late enrollment penalty for those patients who wait to sign up for the Medicare prescription drug benefit until later this year.

Currently, Medicare patients who did not meet the May 15th deadline to enroll for the drug benefit would pay an additional monthly fee if they chose to sign up at a later date. The Medicare Late Enrollment Assistance Act of 2006 will ensure that those patients who need prescription drug coverage will be able to enroll this year without facing an additional financial burden.

"While early estimates show that a majority of eligible seniors enrolled in the Medicare prescription drug benefit, we should not penalize those who are still in the process of doing so or decide to sign up later this year," said Senator Murkowski. "By eliminating this unnecessary fee, I am hopeful that those seniors most in need of prescription drug coverage will be further encouraged to sign up for this benefit."

In addition to waiving the enrollment penalty for 2006, the Act will provide $13 million in new funding for State Health Insurance Information Programs and another $5 million for Area Agencies on Aging to provide beneficiaries assistance in enrolling in the drug benefit program. This new funding will be distributed based on the number of rural Medicare beneficiaries and those eligible for the low-income subsidy. The cost of waiving the late enrollment penalty in 2006 is offset with funds that previously were set aside by Congress to encourage health insurance company participation in the Medicare program.

http://murkowski.senate.gov/pressapp/record.cfm?id=255785