Ask Larry

Hi Larry. I am a dual enrolled individual under the age of 65 and receiving Social Security Disabilty benefits. My part A and part B premiums were being paid at one time both by Medicare as my primary and Medicaid as my secondary until the program I was enrolled into was considered incompatible for some reason. Since then, I have been paying for my Part B premium from my benefit for over 12 months primarily because I had no knowledge of other programs, my eligibility or the steps I would have needed to take next. My question is, would the time frame I've been paying for my Part B premium be considered retroactive? And if not, is there any way that I would be able to receive any of my benefits back? Thank you for your time.

Hi. The only months for which your Part B Medicare premiums could be reimbursed to you are months for which your Part B premiums were paid both by you and by someone else. I know that state agencies sometimes pay Part B premiums on behalf of people who qualify for Medicaid, but I'm not an expert on the Medicaid program. I don't know if there's any way for you to get the agency that's paying your Part B premiums to pay those premiums for retroactive months, but if they do then the Part B premiums that you paid for those months should be reimbursed to you.

Best, Jerry