Prior to October 15th
each year, employers who provide health insurance benefits to their employees
that contain prescription drug coverage are required by the Medicare
Modernization Act to notify Medicare eligible employees if their prescription
drug coverage provides creditable coverage.
Creditable coverage means the employee’s prescription drug coverage is
expected to pay, on average, as much as the standard Medicare prescription drug
plan.
There are two important disclosure
notice requirements the employer needs to provide to employees.
First, a written disclosure notice must be sent to all Medicare eligible
individuals and their dependents once a year prior to the October deadline. This notice also needs to be provided to the
employee when he or she first signs up for the plan as well. In addition to the actively working
individuals, any Medicare eligible retirees, COBRA individuals, or disabled
individuals and their dependents must also be provided with the creditable
coverage disclosure notice.
Secondly, employers must complete
the Online Disclosure form and submit it to the Centers of Medicare &
Medicaid Services annually. This form
reports the creditable coverage status of the employer’s prescription drug plan
and must be completed within the first 60 days of the plan year, within 30 days
after any change in creditable coverage status, or within 30 days after
termination of a prescription drug plan.
The
Creditable Coverage Notice is available on the Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid Services website or you may contact our office for a copy of the
template. If your health insurance plan
does not provide creditable prescription drug coverage, you can also find the
Non-Creditable Coverage Notice on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services website or you may contact our office for this template as well.
If you have any questions regarding
the Medicare Part D Creditable Coverage Notice, please feel free to contact our
office at (978)-777-6554. Thank you.
