April 27, 2006

Q: I signed up for a Medicare drug plan in March and still haven't received my insurance card. I need to fill my prescriptions but am concerned that I’ll be charged the full amount for them without my card. What do I do? -- Joel

Dear Joel,

If you signed up for a plan in March, you should have received a letter by now from the company offering your Medicare drug plan that confirms your enrollment. Typically, the plan sends out a letter first and then follows up by sending out the card. 

This letter can be used as proof of insurance at the pharmacy until your card arrives. Your pharmacist can use this letter to confirm your enrollment with the Medicare drug plan and to charge you the appropriate copayments for your drugs. The letter should work just like a card, which means that your plan should begin to pay a significant portion of your prescription costs.

If you have not received such a letter from the company offering the Medicare drug plan that you think you are enrolled in, you should contact the company to verify your enrollment. Alternatively, you may want to call Medicare’s hotline at 1-800-MEDICARE for additional assistance.

Remember the clock is ticking. You only have until May 15 to enroll in a Medicare drug plan. After May 15, you will not be able to join a Medicare drug plan until 2007. And, if you sign up for a plan for 2007, you may face a penalty for late enrollment. So, it would be a good idea to confirm your enrollment in a plan in the near future.

This column was prepared by the Kaiser Family Foundation, an independent, non-profit private foundation based in Menlo Park, Calif., that is not affiliated with the Kaiser Permanente health plan. Do you have questions about the new Medicare drug benefit? Send your questions to Medicare Q and A. The Kaiser Family Foundation. 1330 G St., NW. Washington, DC  20005 or MedicareQ@kff.org. 

(c) 2006, Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.