Since eligible PSHB participants aren’t required to be enrolled in Medicare Part D — the section of Medicare that provides coverage of prescription drugs — OPM has planned for an option to opt out of the coverage, if a PSHB participant desires.
But there is a crucial catch: Medicare-eligible USPS annuitants who opt out of a PDP will lose all underlying prescription drug benefits through PSHB, according to OPM’s regulations. Any individual who opts out would still retain other plan benefits, aside from prescription drugs.
In its proposed regulations for the new PSHB program, OPM asked for feedback on how best to mitigate the risk of “inadvertent disenrollment,” as well as how to educate Part D-eligible individuals on the details of the new PSHB program.
“Permitting individuals to decline Part D may present a risk that individuals may fail to enroll in, or inadvertently disenroll from the Part D [plan], which would result in loss of access to prescription drug benefits under the PSHB plan while paying the full premium,” OPM explained in its proposed regulations, first published in May.