Part D late enrollment penalty calculator

Yes, for as long as you have Part D. It is not a one-time charge, and it is recalculated each year against the new national base beneficiary premium, so it rises as that figure rises.

The 2026 base premium is $38.99 a month.

Full months after your Initial Enrollment Period ended during which you had neither Part D nor other creditable drug coverage.

Employer and union plans, VA benefits and TRICARE usually count as creditable, so those months do not add to the penalty.

It goes away if you qualify for Extra Help, the Part D Low-Income Subsidy. You can also request a reconsideration if Medicare has the dates wrong or you had creditable coverage they do not know about.

The reconsideration form arrives with the letter announcing the penalty, and it has a deadline on it.

Usually yes. The penalty accrues whether or not you needed medication during the gap, and a low-premium plan today is generally cheaper than a permanent surcharge later.

It also means drug coverage is already in place the first time something is prescribed.

No. It is an estimate computed from published plan-year figures and the details you type in. It is not an offer of coverage or a determination of eligibility.

Your final premium and eligibility are confirmed at enrollment on HealthCare.gov or with the carrier.

From the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announcements for plan year 2026. They are plan-year stamped and reviewed each January, when the federal government publishes the new ones.

If a figure here does not match what you see elsewhere, check which plan year the other source is quoting first.

Nothing. Carriers pay a commission when a plan is issued, and that commission is already built into the plan price whether you use an agent or not.

Buying the same plan on your own does not make it cheaper — it just means nobody checked your doctors and prescriptions first, and nobody picks up the phone in March when something goes wrong.

No, and no agency does. We are independent, which means we compare across the carriers listed on this site rather than representing a single one — but that is not the same as offering every plan on the market.

We do not offer every plan available in your area. Currently we represent 8 organizations which offer 72 products in your area. Please contact Medicare.gov, 1-800-MEDICARE to get information on all of your options.