DATE: October 13, 2022
TO: College Retirees
FROM: Benefits Task Force
RE: Medicare Part D Plan Surcharge
Dear Retirees,
As many of you are aware, on January 1, 2017, The College of Wooster changed the retirees’ drug coverage from Cigna to a Medicare Part D prescription drug plan using Benistar/Express Scripts as the pharmacy benefits manager. As a result, some retirees received a letter from Social Security stating they would have a deduction for their Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage from their Social Security check called an Income Related Monthly Adjustment Amount (IRMAA). This resulted in an increase in premiums which the Benefits Task Force and College’s administration did not intend. To reduce the increased cost in premiums, The College decided to credit the affected retirees’ monthly health care premium billed by the College.
If you receive such a letter and wish to have a credit (that corresponds to the Medicare Part D IRMAA deduction) applied to your health care premium owed the College, please send a copy of the Social Security letter that shows what your SS benefit would be for the next year as well as any IRMAA deductions for Medicare Part B and Part D to the HR Benefits Office. Please block out your Claim Number and the amount you would receive from Social Security but leave your name and the amount of the monthly IRMAA deduction for your Medicare Part D coverage. This voluntary process will need to be done every year since circumstances change each year based on your income tax statement from the two previous years. We would like to get your confirmation of this additional charge prior to sending the next billing statement for the medical premium.
If you have already sent us your IRMAA statement for 2023, please disregard this request.
Please respond by November 15, 2022. You can contact Human Resources with any questions you may have or call 330-263-2526.