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Beginning with the premiums due for June 2011,
the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) will be able to withhold premiums for
Medicare Part C (Medicare Advantage Plans) and Medicare Part D (prescription
drug plans) from benefit payments. Beneficiaries should contact their plans to
request withholding of these premiums from their monthly benefit payments.
Part C and Part D premiums vary according to the plan and provider. Beginning in
2011, the Affordable Care Act requires some Part D beneficiaries to also pay an
additional monthly adjustment amount, depending on a beneficiary’s or married
couple’s modified adjusted gross income. Under this new requirement,
beneficiaries pay the regular premium to their Part D plan and the monthly
adjustment amount directly to the RRB.
While the RRB will be able to deduct the regular Part D premiums for individuals
who elect to have them withheld from their benefit payments, Part D enrollees
subject to the monthly adjustment amount will continue to receive a bill for
that portion as the agency is unable to deduct those amounts from benefits at
this time.
The Part D income-related monthly adjustment amounts are $12.00, $31.10, $50.10
or $69.10, depending on the extent to which an individual beneficiary’s modified
adjusted gross income exceeds $85,000 or a married couple’s income exceeds
$170,000. The highest amount is only paid by beneficiaries whose incomes are
over $214,000 (or $428,000 for a married couple). The Social Security
Administration determines if a monthly adjustment amount is due, based upon the
most recent tax return information available from the IRS.
The RRB has worked closely with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on
implementation of Part C and Part D premium withholding, with the end result
simplifying the withholding system so as to minimize the data exchange and
processing required of both agencies.
The RRB is also reminding Medicare beneficiaries that, beginning in the fall of
2011, the annual enrollment period for Part C and Part D coverage will begin and
end earlier. Effective this year, the annual enrollment period will be from
October 15 to December 7. (Previously, it ran from November 15 to December 31.)
However, changes and enrollments made during this period will still be effective
on January 1 of the following year.
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