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ARMED FORCES NEWS |
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| Some 90,000 Medicare-eligible military beneficiaries are not eligible for Tricare for Life and Tricare Senior Pharmacy services because they are not enrolled in Medicare Part B. The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 provides for a special, no-penalty enrollment period for them. The special period runs through Dec. 31, 2004, but the act did not specify a start date. According to the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA), Medicare must first publish guidelines in the Federal Register and provide a 60-day comment period. This would drag the open enrollment start to September or October. When it does kick off, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services plans to automatically enroll every Medicare-eligible beneficiary who is not currently enrolled in Part B, stated a MOAA official. Beneficiaries will receive notifications of enrollment offering them the chance to decline if they so choose. |
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