Dear Friends,

As you probably know, Medicare’s Extra Help program helps certain Medicare recipients pay the cost of Medicare prescription drug coverage.  (Click here for more information.)  The Empire Justice Center has reminded us that Extra Help recipients should NEVER be terminated mid-year.   If someone is losing Extra Help coverage, the coverage should end on December 31st of the calendar year, and they should receive advance notice of the termination.

The Center has seen several cases recently where Extra Help beneficiaries have lost their coverage in the middle of the year without any prior notice.

If someone’s Extra Help benefit has suddenly stopped, something has gone wrong, and CMS needs to know right away so that they can fix the problem and reinstate the person’s Extra Help status. It’s not clear why this has been happening, but CMS has been responsive about resolving individual cases that are brought to their attention.

Please let the Empire Justice Center know right away if you are seeing any of these cases, by e-mailing them at healthtechassist@empirejustice.org.

All the best,

Alex