These Medicare beneficiaries thought their drug plan was free. Then they lost it

Exclusive Health These Medicare beneficiaries thought their drug plan was free. Then they lost it July 6, 20265:00 AM ET From By  Susan Jaffe Thousands of Medicare beneficiaries lost drug coverage after their premiums went up and they didn't know. fstop123/iStockphoto/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption fstop123/iStockphoto/Getty Images Stay up to date with our Up First newsletter, sent every weekday morning. Jude Pare and his partner, Diane Tix, live in rural Minnesota until temperatures dip below freezing, when they take refuge in Arizona for the winter. While away, their mail is forwarded. But Pare, 77, said he didn't receive any warning from his Medicare prescription drug plan that his $0 monthly premium was about to increase. So he didn't know he had a bill to pay. After he and Tix returned home to Minnesota in April, they got a letter from Wellcare, the insurer that provided his drug plan, saying his coverage had been terminated after three months of unpaid premiums totaling $28.80. Under Medicare's rules, he can't enroll in a plan again until the fall, for coverage beginning in 2027. Sponsor Message Health Medicare Advantage 'dark money' group tries to win higher payments for insurers Pare takes Xarelto, a blood thinner that reduces his risk of strokes, blood clots, and pulmonary embolism. "He could bleed to death without it," Tix said. A 90-day supply of the drug costs about $1,800 using a coupon from GoodRx, a discount drug website, she said. Pare is among tens of thousands of Medicare beneficiaries who were on Wellcare's Value Script drug plan who will likely go without prescription drug coverage for the rest of the year because they didn't pay premiums for three months. Next year, thousands more people in 32 states and Washington, D.C., enrolled in zero-premium drug plans from Wellcare and other insurance companies may find themselves in the same situation if their premiums go up and they don't realize it, according to a KFF Health News analysis...