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Medicare Beneficiaries: Look Out for Important Extra Help Mailings

Katy McKee

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) sends mailings each Fall related to Extra Help. These notices are mailed when someone’s automatic Extra Help will end this year, when co-pay amounts are changing for next year, when someone needs to complete a redetermination form to determine if they will continue to qualify for Extra Help, or if their current plan is terminating and if they are being reassigned a new plan.  Here are the different mailings to look out for: 

  •  Loss of Deemed Status Notice (grey paper): Mailed in September to those who no longer automatically qualify for Extra Help in 2025. This happens when someone lost Medicaid coverage or help with the Medicare Part B premium between July 2023 and June 2024 and has not requalified for that assistance. An application to reapply will be included with the notice. 

  • Notice to Review Eligibility for Extra Help (white paper):  Redetermination form from SSA: Every year, Social Security chooses a certain number of people to review for continued Extra Help eligibility. Redetermination paperwork is sent in September and must be completed and returned. If the renewal is not completed, Extra Help will end in 2024. 

  • Change in Extra Help Co-Payment Notice (orange): mailed in October to those who still qualify for Extra Help but have a change in co-payment levels starting January 1, 2025. 

  • Reassignment Notice – Plan Termination (blue): mailed in November to inform people that their current Part D plan will be leaving the Medicare program. If they do nothing, they will be reassigned to a new Part D plan for 2025. 

  • Reassignment Notice – Premium Increase (blue): mailed in November to people who have previously chosen their Part D plan letting them know that the premium is increasing over the LIS premium subsidy amount. If they do nothing, they will be reassigned to a new Part D plan for 2025. 

  • Medicare Advantage Reassignment Notice (blue): mailed in November to people who receive Extra Help and are currently enrolled in a Medicare Advantage Plan that will be leaving the Medicare Program. If they do nothing, they will be reassigned to a Part D plan for 2025. 
     

More information and a complete listing of mailings to Medicare beneficiaries is available here.