Unpaid Premiums Between the Months of February and May

Problems with the Automated Premium Deduction System

The Social Security Administration’s automated premium deduction system experienced an interruption between February and the beginning of May 2019. 

Some Medicare plan holders choose to pay the cost of their plan premium directly from their Social Security benefits.  In order to accommodate this option, the Social Security Administration has an automated system that automatically deducts a senior’s plan premium from their monthly Social Security check and pays it directly to the insurance carrier.

The recent system error means that the seniors who take advantage of this payment option may now have plan premiums that have gone unpaid between the months of February and May. Medicare plans that may have potentially been affected by this system error include Medicare Supplement Plans, Medicare Part D Prescription Plans, and Medicare Advantage plans.

The Problem Has Been Resolved

The Social Security Administration has announced that the error has been resolved.  But the Social Security Administration will not be deducting premiums retroactively. So, any seniors who are currently paying Medicare plan premiums via the Social Security Administration’s automated deduction system will need to pay any outstanding premiums from between February to May of this year that may have not been paid due to this system error directly to their insurance carrier.

This system error will only affect those Medicare members who’re plan premiums were being deducted from their Social Security benefits.

Insurance Companies are Reaching Out

Having been made aware of the issue many insurance carriers are contacting their policyholders who have been affected by this error by mail.  Plan holders who have outstanding premium balances due to the deduction system error can expect to receive correspondence from their plan’s insurance carrier in the next few weeks.  However, any senior paying plan premiums through Social Security’s system should not hesitate to contact their carrier immediately in order to verify the status of their premium payments.  

Customer’s who suspect they may have been affected should call the customer service number on the back of their insurance card to inquire.

IHS Insurance Group Cares

 At IHS Insurance Group we greatly appreciate our customer’s and immediately contacted all Medicare policyholders for whom we have current contact information directly regarding this issue.    

Any Medicare plan holders who are unsure if they were affected by this error should be sure to contact their Medicare agent or insurance plan carrier quickly to ensure your premium payments are current.

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