Yes. You can contact the Member Services department of your Medicare Part D or Medicare Advantage plan if you wish to change how you pay your monthly premiums. The toll-free Member Services telephone number is on your Member ID card and most of your plan's printed information.
Depending on your Medicare plan, you can choose one of the following ways to pay your monthly plan premiums, including:
- Automatic Social Security check deductions
Tip: This payment method is usually what we recommend to friends and family, your SS check gets smaller, but you can rest knowing that the payments are being made. Please note, in some cases your Medicare plan may not initially allow you this payment option (even when chosen on your enrollment application, however, if initially denied, you should be allowed to choose this option later in your Medicare plan year.
- Automatic deduction from your monthly Railroad Retirement Board check
You will notice that your Medicare plan documentation may state something such as: "If you qualify for this option, you can have your plan premium taken out of your monthly Railroad Retirement Board check. Contact the Railroad Retirement Board Agency at 1-877-772-5772 or our Customer Service for more information.
Important Note
Your Medicare plan may need more than a few months to process your
change of payment method and you are still responsible for making your
monthly premium payments during that time. Most Medicare plans state
that they will need up to three (3) months to process your premium
payment change request.
For example, if you
did not choose a payment method when you
first enrolled in your Medicare Part D plan, your payment method will be
your Medicare plan’s default payment method (such as using a monthly
coupon book), so if you decide to change to automatic Social Security
check deduction, you will need to keep sending monthly premium payments
until your new method of payment becomes effective.
You can look in Chapter 1 of your Medicare plan's Evidence of Coverage
document and in Section 7.1, you probably will see a statement that
describes the process necessary to change your payment method, such as:
"If you decide to change the way you pay your premium, it can take up to
3 months for your new payment method to take effect. While we are
processing your request for a new payment method, you are responsible
for making sure that your plan premium is paid on time."
Related Questions:
What can I do if my Medicare Part D plan says that I am being
disenrolled because I haven't paid my monthly premiums?
Q1FAQ.com/633
I didn't pay my plan
premiums and was disenrolled from my Medicare Part D plan. What is the
"good cause" that I must show to be reinstated in my plan?
Q1FAQ.com/634