Klein Fights to Put an End to Unnecessary Late Fees for Bronx Senior

BRONX, NY – State Senator Jeff Klein (D-Bronx/Westchester) announced this week that he fought to help remove unnecessary Medicare Part D prescription plan late fees for Country Club resident Carmela Del Secolo.

Carmela was recently notified that her plan through EPIC is creditable coverage, which means that in 2011 EPIC is expected to pay, on average, at least as much as the standard Medicare Part D drug plan. Because EPIC is creditable coverage, Carmela is not required by Medicare to pay extra for Medicare drug coverage for deciding to enroll. However, Carmela was still charged late fees because Medicare claimed that she did not meet their minimum standard for prescription coverage. Concerned about these fees, Carmela turned to Senator Klein’s office for help.

Klein’s office quickly reached out to MedicareComplete and requested that the late enrollment penalty of $17.80 per month be appealed and removed. In addition, Senator Klein’s office provided proof that Carmela did in fact meet Medicare’s minimum standard for prescription coverage. After the proper documents were given to MedicareComplete, the late enrollment penalty was removed.

“Advocating on behalf of my constituents is extremely important to me, especially when my support can help ensure that they are never charged an excessive amount for health care coverage. I am pleased that we were able to help remove these unnecessary late enrollment fees for Carmela,” said Senator Jeff Klein (D Bronx/Westchester).

“Senator Klein and his staff were extremely helpful with this issue. I want to express my gratitude to the Senator because without his help I wouldn’t have been able to take care of this problem on my own,” said Carmela Del Secolo, Country Club Resident.

*          *          *