Feel free to discuss any topic of general interest, so long as nothing you post here is likely to be interpreted as insulting, and/or inflammatory, nor clearly designed to provoke any individual or group. Please be considerate of others feelings, and they will be considerate of yours.
I believe that SS is required by law to allow you to correct this situation by registering late, and they are obligated to provide retroactive coverage for their percentage of your expenses. Consider this quote, from a website maintained by the Medicare Rights Center:
. . . pursuant to federal regulations, when nonenrollment in Part B of the Medicare program is "unintentional, inadvertent, or erroneous and is the result of the error, misrepresentation, or inaction of an officer, employee, or agent of the Federal Government, or its instrumentalities…" Social Security must grant that individual a waiver of the enrollment period and allow retroactive enrollment in Part B.
If you go to: Interesting Cases/Medicare Basics/Part B Premium and Enrollment, you will find a number of example cases listed. The second one is very similar to your situation:
2. Mr. B is an American citizen who resided in Hong Kong for a number of years. Prior to his 65th birthday, Mr. B visited the American consulate in Hong Kong to inquire about the eligibility requirements for Medicare and was told that he would not be eligible to receive benefits until he was 70 years old. Mr. M believed this erroneous information and did not sign up for Part B during his initial enrollment. Shortly thereafter he returned to the United States and was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. In need of health insurance to pay for his urgent cancer treatment, Mr. M sought help from MRC. MRC staff informed Mr. M that pursuant to federal regulations, when nonenrollment in Part B of the Medicare program is "unintentional, inadvertent, or erroneous and is the result of the error, misrepresentation, or inaction of an officer, employee, or agent of the Federal Government, or its instrumentalities…" Social Security must grant that individual a waiver of the enrollment period and allow retroactive enrollment in Part B. Mr. M's brother, who is an attorney, will help him to appeal. September 2000.
There may be some other example cases that also fit, but I didn't bother to read past the second one. If you need any additional information, please don't hesitate to ask.
Tex
Hello TEX,
Wow, your amazing to find all this so quickly! The problem that I have is that it wasn't Medicare who made the error but our primary insurance to which has covered me for the last 15 years. I am only in my mid 40's but have been disabled 10 years and have been medicare B eligible for the last 8 years but have not taken it. We did call Medicare in March to ask them also about this too as I wanted to be sure everything was OK and they said as long as I was covered under my husbands' insurance I didn't need to pick up the B, so maybe what you have found will apply! I do hope they have records of me calling back in March? In that case, then they will have to fix the situation as you say. It is so un-nerving when you think you have your insurance in place and then you get news like I did today.
I can't thank you enough for posting this information as Medicare has not called me back yet (could be 3 days) and I will print this out and have some ammo.
Poopsie
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!"
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Here is my latest update since I brought ya all into it:
I spent a lot of time on the phone the last 3 days! On Monday, our Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO informed me that I was supposed to have picked up my Medicare B back on March 1, 2007 when we went on the Retiree/Disability insurance carried by my husband. (They lapsed us and we didn't even get a letter until March 13th that our insurance had run out from his Employer, but that's another story!) So, I called Medicare on Monday and after one hour, the guy said a specialist would call me within 3 days. On Tues morning the Specialist called and after 30 minutes said, "You should have called Social Security, not Medicare!" So word to the wise, if your under 65 on SS and need your Medicare, don't call Medicare call SS! Anyway, it appears that if BC/BS fills out the date of the insurance change of 3/1/07 on their part of the paperwork, then Medicare Part B WILL be retroactive!! I can't be more happy as all the bills should be covered if all goes the way I have been told. Time will tell.
I have to say, if Tex hadn't made his post, I know I wouldn't have slept the other night! Because of your words, I was calm enough to sleep and for that I cannot say thank you enough. Things like this keep me awake at night.
PS - Tex, I like your picture too as it seems to say, "Howdy"
Poopsie
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!"
I'm glad you were able to sleep. I'm pretty sure I can safely say that things like that keep all of us awake, when it happens, and it seems to happen way too often. Insurance companies seem to go out of their way sometimes to be a PITA.
It sure sounds like your problem will be taken care of, so that's a huge relief.
Thanks for the kind words. I was hoping that little trick would distract everyone, so that they wouldn't notice how ugly I am, and it seems to be working. LOL.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
