Congress is considering bills to waive the late enrollment penalty for Part D.

A bill to waive the enrollment penalty for Part D was introduced in the Senate on May 16 .This new legislation also includes $18 million for Area Agencies on Aging and state SHIIP programs (Senior Health Insurance Information Programs) so they can provide more counseling to help seniors, especially those who qualify for the Low-Income-Subsidy, untangle the complexity of Part D.

This new bill is designed to encourage more Medicare beneficiaries to sign up for Part D during the next enrollment period since they would not have to pay the 1% per month penalty. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced that those eligible for the Low Income Subsidy will not have to pay this penalty in 2006. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and Max Baucus (D-Montana), who are among those sponsoring this bill were the principal Senate sponsors of the legislation which created Part D in 2003.

Members of the House of Representatives have also announced that they would support a bill to waive the late penalty. After opposing legislation to postpone the Part D enrollment deadline, Nancy Johnson (R-Connecticut) announced she would support eliminating the penalties. Johnson was one of the authors of the Part legislation.

Politicians from both the Senate and the House continue to argue that the deadline and the penalty were necessary get people to sign up for Part D. It seems surprising that no one in the government was able to come up with incentives, something to be gained by signing up, rather than a scary penalty. There have been many more articles and speeches that refer to the fact that seniors can figure out this program that will help them. More needs to be written and spoken about the fact that serious flaws in the program where often the real reason some people have not signed up.

Created 5/18/06