The cost of the late enrollment penalty depends on how long you waited to join a Medicare drug plan. Your exact late enrollment penalty will be calculated when you join a Medicare drug plan. To estimate your penalty amount, multiply 1% of the national base beneficiary premium for the current year ($27.93 for 2008) by the number of full months you were eligible to join a Medicare drug plan but didn’t. Round this to the nearest 10 cents. This penalty amount is added each month to your Medicare drug plan’s premium for as long as you have the plan.
