Over the past 7 months, the various government agencies have provided numerous pieces of relief to both participants and plan sponsors by extending deadlines on various employee benefit plan obligations. However, one requirement where no relief has been granted is the requirement for employers to send Medicare Part D notices of creditable coverage to plan participants who are eligible for Medicare.
Even during the global pandemic, employers must still distribute Medicare Part D notices to applicable plan participants prior to October 15th in order to satisfy this requirement. Medicare Part D creditable coverage notices are provided to inform employees whether or not their plan’s prescription drug coverage is expected to cover, on average, as much as the standard Medicare Part D plan. The notice must be distributed to all individuals enrolled or seeking to enroll in the plan who are eligible for Medicare Part D (including spouses and dependents). Many employers decide to send the Notice to all employees to avoid making this determination. The CMS website has customizable model Notices for both creditable and non-creditable coverage.
For more details and answers to common questions on the Medicare Part D Notice, refer to our prior blog post.
