Couple’s Medicare coverage threatened

At the end of August 2014 man who reached the age of 65 in April 2014 contacted the Ombudsman office for help maintaining Medicare coverage for himself and his wife. Because the man and his wife have very little income, they do not have the money to pay for the monthly Medicare Part B premiums. There is an option called the Qualified Medicare Beneficiary program (QMB), through which the Medicaid program pays the Part B Medicare premiums of $104.90 each month for a couple with a monthly income of less than $1,293. If Part B Medicare premiums are not paid, the couple will lose their Part B coverage. He did not want to lose coverage and came to the Ombudsman for assistance.

The Ombudsman contacted staff at the Montgomery county Department of Job and Family Services (MCDJFS) and spoke to a supervisor about the couple’s dilemma. The staff person learned that there was a discrepancy in the man’s name between the Medicare records and the Medicaid records. The man had provided his given name for his Medicare application, but had provided his nickname for the QMB application. Therefore the system could not process the QMB application because of the difference in the man’s first name. The name was corrected by the staff at the MCDJFS. However, the staff person also learned that the man needed to scan in his Medicare cards at the MCDJFS so that verification could take place that the names match the Social Security Award Letters. The man took the Medicare cards that afternoon to be scanned and the staff person sent an emergency request for processing.