MEDICARE PART D CREDITABLE COVERAGE NOTICE
IMPORTANT NOTICE FROM CORTLAND HOLDINGS, LLC ABOUT YOUR PRESCRIPTION DRUG COVERAGE AND MEDICARE
Please read this notice carefully and keep it where you can find it. This notice has information about your current prescription drug coverage with Cortland Holdings, LLC and about your options under Medicare’s prescription drug coverage. This information can help you decide whether you want to join a Medicare drug plan. Information about where you can get help to make decisions about your prescription drug coverage is at the end of this notice. If neither you nor any of your covered dependents are eligible for or have Medicare, this notice does not apply to you or your dependents, as the case may be. However, you should still keep a copy of this notice in the event you or a dependent should qualify for coverage under Medicare in the future. Please note, however, that later notices might supersede this notice. 1. Medicare prescription drug coverage became available in 2006 to everyone with Medicare. You can get this coverage if you join a Medicare Prescription Drug Plan or join a Medicare Advantage Plan (like an HMO or PPO) that offers prescription drug coverage. All Medicare drug plans provide at least a standard level of coverage set by Medicare. Some plans may also offer more coverage for a higher monthly premium. 2. Cortland Holdings, LLC has determined that the prescription drug coverage offered by the Cortland Holdings, LLC Employee Health Care Plan (“Plan”) is, on average for all plan participants, expected to pay out as much as standard Medicare prescription drug coverage pays and is considered “creditable”
prescription drug coverage. This is important for the reasons described below. ____________________________________________________________
Because your existing coverage is, on average, at least as good as standard Medicare prescription drug coverage, you can keep this coverage and not pay a higher premium (a penalty) if you later decide to enroll in a Medicare drug plan, as long as you later enroll within specific time periods. Enrolling in Medicare — General Rules As some background, you can join a Medicare drug plan when you first become eligible for Medicare. If you qualify for Medicare due to age, you may enroll in a Medicare drug plan during a seven-month initial enrollment period. That period begins three months prior to your 65th birthday, includes the month you turn 65, and continues for the ensuing three months. If you qualify for Medicare due to disability or end- stage renal disease, your initial Medicare Part D enrollment period depends on the date your disability or treatment began. For more information you should contact Medicare at the telephone number or web address listed below. Late Enrollment and the Late Enrollment Penalty If you decide to wait to enroll in a Medicare drug plan you may enroll later, during Medicare Part D’s annual enrollment period, which runs each year from October 15 through December 7. But as a general rule, if you delay your enrollment in Medicare Part D, after first becoming eligible to enroll, you may have to pay a higher premium (a penalty). If after your initial Medicare Part D enrollment period you go 63 continuous days or longer without “creditable” prescription drug coverage (that is, prescription drug coverage that’s at least as good as Medicare’s prescription drug coverage), your monthly Part D premium may go up by at least 1 percent of
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