There is a lifetime fine for late enrollment in federal health insurance

A lifetime fine for late enrollment in federal health insurance (Alberta Times) The baby boom population is gradually aging, and more and more Chinese are eligible to receive federal health insurance (Medic...

A lifetime fine for late enrollment in federal health insurance (Alberta Times) The baby boomer population is gradually aging, and more and more Chinese are eligible to receive Medicare (Medicare) at the age of 65. However, some people have lived abroad for a long time and think that they can only sign up for this insurance when they return to the United States to settle down in the future. Some people do not buy some of the insurance for the time being in order to save money. Unexpectedly, they later found out that they would face a lifetime penalty when they signed up. Moreover, they did not sign up just because they wanted to, but had to sign up within the legal time. Mr. Liu, 66, considers himself to be in good health. When he applied for Medicare from the Social Security Administration last year before his 65th birthday, he deliberately did not buy Part B insurance, which requires out-of-pocket medical treatment, and only purchased Part A hospital insurance, which did not require out-of-pocket payments, in order to save more than a hundred dollars in monthly premiums. When I thought about buying Part B insurance later because I was feeling unwell, I learned that this type of insurance must be purchased within the legal time. This year, the legal purchase time has been advanced to October 15. If he purchases it by then, he will face an annual 10% penalty from the government, and he will have to pay this penalty every year as long as he lives. The insurance broker surnamed Wang pointed out that most Chinese people do not know the structure of the federal health insurance. When choosing a health insurance plan, they follow everyone's opinions and do not choose according to their personal health conditions. Many Chinese regard the federal health insurance as a relief plan, but they have not thought that it is actually a mutual aid plan. Even those who have worked in the United States and are over 65 years old have to share the drug premiums for Parts B and D. This is why retired seniors who delay participating in insurance face penalties for purchasing this part of the insurance. Take Part D prescription drug insurance as an example. If the applicant is eligible to buy this part of the insurance this year but does not buy it, and waits until he needs it two years later to buy it, then the penalty will be calculated as 1% of the monthly premium multiplied by the number of months that the premium has not been paid, that is, 1% x 24 months. This penalty must be paid every year as long as he is alive. Insurance broker Liu Lei Lingfang said that if the company provides health insurance, you do not need to apply for federal health insurance for the time being, and you do not have to worry about fines. However, a common problem in new immigrant communities is that retired people over 65 years old may be confident because they have health insurance in Taiwan, or they do not know that they are eligible for federal health insurance three months before their birthdays. They only discover that there are penalties when they think about joining. Insurance policyholders generally do not know that there are many health insurance plans to choose from. Li Fangyin, a retiree who turned 65 the year before last, saw a newspaper advertisement for a medical website targeting the elderly, claiming that it provided HMO plan outpatient registration, hearing, vision, X-ray examination and other services for free, so she enthusiastically joined the plan. She did not expect that the plan was not suitable for her because she often traveled to other states to visit her children. Three times she fell ill temporarily out of state, but the insurance company did not reimburse her medical expenses. Later she learned that the HMO health insurance plan had regional restrictions, and she could not see a doctor from outside the state at will, and if she wanted to see a specialist, she needed the consent of her family doctor. However, she had to apply for a change of health insurance plan within a specified period of one year, which made her suffer a lot.