Members began receiving their annual notice of Creditable or NonCreditable prescription drug coverage in early September; those notices will be delivered to Members began receiving their annual notice of Creditable or NonCreditable prescription drug coverage in early September; those notices will be delivered to members through the end of the month.

This disclosure is required by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to inform Medicare Supplement members of their options and expectations if they decide to enroll in a Medicare Part D plan.  We have been providing this disclosure notice annually since 2005 to Medicare Supplement members who have drug benefits as part of their plan. All members receiving the notices have been in their Medicare Supplement plan at least since December 2005, 84 months.   Therefore all members in NonCreditable coverage plans will be subject to penalties if they enroll in a Medicare Part D plan.

The Creditable Coverage notice describes what a member should expect if their current prescription drug benefits are at least as good as the Standard Medicare Part D plan.  The NonCreditable Coverage notice describes what a member should expect if their current prescription drug benefits are NOT as good as the Standard Medicare Part D plan and what penalties they can expect if they decide to purchase a Medicare Part D plan.