If you are enrolling into a Prescription Drug or an Advantage Plan plan more than 3 months after your Medicare Part A effective date, you will likely have an extra step to complete to ensure your drug plan goes into effect.

Once Medicare receives notice of your drug plan enrollment, you’ll likely have to “prove” that you had creditable drug coverage the time you turned 65, or else you will be charged a lifetime late enrollment penalty.  You will likely receive a letter asking you to confirm/deny that you had creditable drug coverage from the time you turned 65.  When you receive the letter, simply fill out the form they sent in the notice, or call the 800 number provided to let them know you did have previous coverage.

Note that you do not actually have to “prove you were covered” it by providing proof of coverage, you are simply signing an affidavit saying you’re telling the truth and did in fact have creditable coverage since you turned 65.

Also, note we’ve heard many times from people who did not get this auto-generated enrollment penalty letter. As long as you have drug plan cards and it doesn’t appear you are being charged an amount above your plan premium, there is likely no reason to worry or do anything further. Of course, you can always double-check by calling Medicare and confirming that all is okay. (Expect a long wait) If the notice does finally show up much later than expected, simply follow the instructions at that time.