Low-Income Beneficiaries Still Can Enroll in Drug Benefit
Social Security officials are trying to locate Medicare beneficiaries with limited incomes and assets who have not yet enrolled in the Medicare prescription drug benefit, the Sacramento Bee reports. Low-income beneficiaries will not be penalized for enrolling after the May 15 deadline.
In California, nearly 100,000 of the 300,000 Medicare beneficiaries who applied for a subsidy under the drug benefit have qualified. Those who are eligible can enroll in no- or low-cost drug plans.
According to Margaret Reilly, assistant director of the Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program in Sacramento, many beneficiaries who would qualify for the benefit do not speak English, have cognitive disabilities or live in assisted-living facilities and do not know about the benefit (Weaver Teichert, Sacramento Bee, 6/6).