Railroad Retirement Board
RRB
to Begin Withholding Medicare Parts C and D Premiums
May 2011
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.
Public Affairs 312-751-4777
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