Medicare Supplement

Proving prior coverage to skip Medicare penalties in Casper

CASPER, Wyo. — Missing a Medicare enrollment deadline can quietly add to your monthly bill for as long as you have coverage. The good news: the rules are clear, and most late penalties are avoidable once you know when to sign up and how to prove you had other coverage.

Here's a plain-English look at how Part B and Part D late-enrollment penalties work, and where Casper residents can get free, one-on-one help.

Why Medicare has late-enrollment penalties

Medicare uses late-enrollment penalties to encourage people to sign up when they're first eligible, rather than waiting until they get sick. The penalties apply to Part B (doctor visits and outpatient care) and Part D (prescription drugs). They are added to your monthly premium, and in most cases they stick with you for life.

You generally become eligible around your 65th birthday, though some people qualify earlier due to disability. Your Initial Enrollment Period is a 7-month window: the three months before your 65th birthday month, your birthday month, and the three months after.

How the Part B late penalty works

If you don't sign up for Part B when you're first eligible — and you don't have other qualifying coverage — your Part B premium can go up 10% for each full 12-month period you could have had it but didn't. That higher premium usually lasts as long as you have Part B.

The most common way people avoid this: they're still working past 65 and have creditable employer coverage through their own or a spouse's job. In that case, you can delay Part B without penalty and use a Special Enrollment Period to sign up later — usually within 8 months of losing that job-based coverage.

Retiree coverage, COBRA, and VA benefits do not count as active employer coverage for the purpose of delaying Part B. This is one of the most common — and costly — mix-ups.

How the Part D late penalty works

The Part D penalty applies if you go 63 or more days in a row without either a Medicare drug plan or other creditable prescription drug coverage (coverage Medicare considers at least as good as a standard Part D plan).

The penalty is calculated as 1% of the "national base beneficiary premium" for each full month you were uncovered, and it's added to your Part D premium for as long as you have drug coverage. Even if your drug costs today are low, skipping Part D at 65 can create a permanent charge later.

Keep any letters your employer, union, or other insurer sends each fall confirming your drug coverage is creditable. That paperwork is what protects you.

What's new for 2026 — and why it matters

Part D looks very different than it did a few years ago:

• $2,100 out-of-pocket cap on covered prescription drugs in 2026.
• $615 maximum deductible for Part D plans.
• The old "donut hole" is gone as of 2025 — Part D now has three phases instead of four.
• The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan lets you spread your drug costs across the year in monthly installments instead of paying big amounts at the pharmacy counter.
• IRMAA surcharges — higher premiums based on income — begin above $109,000 for a single filer in 2026.

None of these changes remove the late-enrollment penalty. But they do mean signing up for Part D on time protects you from more than just a monthly surcharge — it locks in access to the new cost protections.

Key dates to remember

• Initial Enrollment Period: the 7 months around your 65th birthday.
• General Enrollment Period: January 1 – March 31, for people who missed their initial window.
• Annual Enrollment Period: October 15 – December 7, when anyone with Medicare can change Part D or Medicare Advantage coverage for the following year.
• Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment: January 1 – March 31, for people already in a Medicare Advantage plan to make one change.

Mark December 7 on your calendar. It's the deadline that trips up the most people.

Getting local help in Casper

Casper is in Natrona County, and Medicare plan availability — including how many stand-alone Part D and Medicare Advantage plans are offered — is set at the county level. That means two neighbors on opposite sides of the state line, or even in different Wyoming counties, may see different plan lists.

For free, unbiased help understanding your options and avoiding penalties, Wyoming residents can contact the Wyoming State Health Insurance Information Program (WSHIIP), the state's SHIP. Counselors don't sell plans and aren't paid on commission.