How will my Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) work with my Medicare prescription drug coverage?

If you get Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB), your coverage will not change. If you decide that your Federal Employee Health Benefits drug coverage meets your needs, you can choose not to join a Medicare drug plan. You can keep your current coverage.

It will almost always be to your advantage to keep your current coverage without making any changes. An exception is if you qualify for Medicare's Extra Help program. You may benefit by applying for the extra help.

Federal Employee Health Benefits prescription drug coverage is considered creditable drug coverage, which means it is at least as good as Medicare drug coverage. If you decide you want to join a Medicare drug plan after you are first eligible, you won't have to pay a late enrollment penalty if you join within 63 days of involuntarily losing your Federal Employee Health Benefits coverage. If you chose to drop the coverage, you must join a Medicare drug plan within 3 months of dropping the coverage.

However, if you do not join a Medicare drug plan right away and go for a period of 63 continuous days (or longer) without creditable coverage, you may have to pay a penalty when you join. If you don't lose or drop your coverage and you want to join a Medicare drug plan, you must wait for a valid enrollment period. You will not have to pay a late enrollment penalty.

You should contact your Federal Employee Health Benefits insurer before making any changes to your drug coverage. The FEHB insurer can be reached at 1-888-767-6738. TTY users should call 1 (800) 878-5707.

(Primary Source: U.S. Department of Health & Human Services)