Closing the Gap Strategies for Coping with Medicare's Doughnut Hole in Retirement

Published: Feb. 19, 2024, 7 a.m.

In this Episode of the Secure Your Retirement Podcast, Radon and Murs have Shawn Southard, our in-house Medicare expert, talk about Medicare's doughnut hole. Medicare\u2019s doughnut hole is a temporary limit on what a Medicare drug plan will pay towards the course of the drug.

Listen in to learn about the importance of enrolling into a prescription drug plan at the right time to avoid paying penalties. You will also learn about the four stages of how Medicare Part D works, plus strategies you can take yourself to avoid the doughnut hole.

In this episode, find out:

  • Doughnut hole \u2013 a temporary limit on what a Medicare drug plan will pay towards the course of the drug.
  • The history of the prescription drug side of Medicare (Part D) and the importance of enrolling in a prescription drug plan.
  • The four stages of how Medicare Part D works \u2013 the deductible, initial coverage, coverage gap, and catastrophic coverage.
  • How the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 will benefit Medicare beneficiaries moving forward.
  • The strategies available to help you avoid the doughnut hole if the government doesn\u2019t fix it.

Tweetable Quotes:

  • \u201cWhen it comes time to get on Medicare, you want to make sure that even if you don\u2019t need it right away, you do enroll into a prescription drug plan to avoid any penalties.\u201d- Murs Tariq
  • \u201cIf you do not enroll into a prescription drug plan when you are first eligible to do so when you turn sixty-five or retire and get into Medicare, there\u2019s a late enrolment penalty of 1% per month for every month you\u2019re not enrolled in a drug plan when you\u2019re supposed to be.\u201d- Shawn Southard

Resources:

If you are in or nearing retirement and you want to gain clarity on what questions you should be asking, learn what the biggest retirement myths are, and identify what you can do to achieve peace of mind for your retirement, get started today by requesting our complimentary video course, Four Steps to Secure Your Retirement!

To access the course, simply visit POMWealth.net/podcast.