Ask Larry

I have being retired. I plan to go to stay with my family in Vietnam for one year. I don't know if I can save money by not paying part B and part D. Money is a big matter with me for these days. Thank you very much for your idea. Sincerely yours.

Hi,

I'm assuming that you currently have Medicare Parts B & D coverage. You could opt to terminate Part B coverage as early as the end of the month after the month in which you submit your request. However, to re-enroll you'll likely need to wait for a general enrollment period (GEP), which occurs in January through March of each year. If you re-enroll during a GEP, your Part B coverage will resume effective with July 1st of the year of your re-enrollment. Also, your Part B premium rate will be 10% higher than the standard rate for each 12 month period during which you did not have Part B coverage.

I'm less familiar with the Part D rules, but my understanding is that you could only drop your coverage during the open enrollment periods that run from October 15 through December 7th each year (https://www.medicare.gov/sign-up-change-plans/get-drug-coverage/drop-drug-plan/drop-drug-plan.html). Your coverage would then end the following January 1st, and you could not re-enroll until the next open enrollment period. And if you do re-enroll, you would be required to pay a 1% premium penalty for each month of non-coverage (https://www.medicare.gov/part-d/costs/penalty/part-d-late-enrollment-penalty.html).

Best, Jerry