Part D Late-Enrollment Penalty Calculator

This page estimates the Part D late-enrollment penalty — the one charged for going without drug coverage. Pick how long the gap lasted, in years and months, and it applies Medicare's rule: one percent of the national base beneficiary premium ($38.99) for every full uncovered month. You get the percentage, the amount added to your monthly drug premium, and what that comes to over a year.

It differs from the Part B penalty in kind: Part B counts whole twelve-month periods at ten percent each, where Part D counts every full month at one percent. The page itself notes only that Part B works differently, and links to that calculator. The percentage stays for as long as you have drug coverage, and because it is recalculated against each year's base premium, the amount rises when that premium does.

All it needs is the length of the gap — nothing personal is collected to run it, though optional forms below can request a call or an email course.

Two things can shrink the result or erase it. Months covered by an employer or union plan, VA benefits or TRICARE are creditable and are not penalty months — your plan tells you each year whether its coverage counts. And people who qualify for Extra Help pay no Part D late-enrollment penalty at all. A gap shorter than 63 days carries none either.

It is an estimate. Your plan and Social Security set the real amount, and the page does not enroll you or price a drug plan.