Before 2006, some Medigap policies included prescription drug coverage. If you still have a Medigap policy with prescription drug coverage, your Medigap insurer must send you a detailed notice each year describing your choices for prescription drug coverage and whether the drug coverage under your Medigap policy is creditable prescription drug coverage. Read the notice carefully for more information. Some of your choices for prescription drug coverage are listed below:
- You can join a Medicare Prescription Drug Plan and keep your current Medigap policy without the prescription drug coverage.
- You can join a Medicare Advantage Plan that includes prescription drug coverage. You will get all your health care coverage including prescription drug coverage from this plan, and you won’t need a Medigap policy. However, you can continue to use your Medigap drug coverage if you join a Medicare Medical Savings Account (MSA) Plan since MSAs can’t offer Medicare prescription drug coverage.
- You can keep your current Medigap policy with the prescription drug coverage included.
The information you get from your Medigap insurer describes these choices in detail. You can also check with your state insurance department to find out what other options you may have for prescription drug coverage.
If you decide to join a Medicare Prescription Drug Plan, you can keep your current Medigap policy without the prescription drug coverage. You will need to tell your Medigap insurer when your Medicare prescription drug coverage starts. They must remove the prescription drug coverage from your Medigap policy and adjust your premium based on this change. Also, you may have to pay a late enrollment penalty to join a Medicare Prescription Drug Plan if the prescription drug coverage you have had under your Medigap policy doesn’t expect to pay, on average, at least as much as standard Medicare drug coverage. You will pay this higher premium for as long as you are in a Medicare Prescription Drug Plan.
