§ 423.38 Enrollment periods.

(a) Initial enrollment period for Part D—Basic rule. The initial enrollment period is the period during which an individual is first eligible to enroll in a Part D plan.

(1) In 2005. An individual who is first eligible to enroll in a Part D plan on or prior to January 31, 2006, has an initial enrollment period from November 15, 2005 through May 15, 2006.

(2) February 2006. An individual who is first eligible to enroll in a Part D plan in February 2006 has an initial enrollment period from November 15, 2005 through May 31, 2006.

(3) March 2006 and subsequent months. (i) Except as provided in paragraph (a)(3)(ii) and (a)(3)(iii) of this section, the initial enrollment period for an individual who is first eligible to enroll in a Part D plan on or after March 2006 is the same as the initial enrollment period for Medicare Part B under § 407.14 of this chapter.

(ii) Exception. For those individuals who are not eligible to enroll in a Part D plan at any time during their initial enrollment period for Medicare Part B, their initial enrollment period under this Part is the 3 months before becoming eligible for Part D, the month of eligibility, and the three months following eligibility to Part D.

(iii) An individual who becomes entitled to Medicare Part A or enrolled in Part B for a retroactive effective date has an initial enrollment period under this Part beginning with the month in which notification of the Medicare determination is received and ending on the last day of the third month following the month in which the notification was received.

(b) Annual coordinated election period—(1) For 2006. This period begins on November 15, 2005 and ends on May 15, 2006.

(2) For 2007 through 2010. The annual coordinated election period for the following calendar year is November 15 through December 31.

(3) For 2011 and subsequent years. Beginning with 2011, the annual coordinated election period for the following calendar year is October 15 through December 7.

(c) Special enrollment periods. A Part D eligible individual may enroll in a PDP or disenroll from a PDP and enroll in another PDP or MA–PD plan (as provided at § 422.62(b) of this chapter), as applicable, under any of the following circumstances:

(1) The individual involuntarily loses creditable prescription drug coverage or such coverage is involuntarily reduced so that it is no longer creditable coverage as defined under § 423.56(a). Loss of credible prescription drug coverage due to failure to pay any required premium is not considered involuntary loss of the coverage.

(2) The individual was not adequately informed, as required by standards established by CMS under § 423.56, that he or she has lost his or her creditable prescription drug coverage, that he or she never had credible prescription drug coverage, or the coverage is involuntarily reduced so that it is no longer creditable prescription drug coverage.

(3) The individual's enrollment or non-enrollment in a Part D plan is unintentional, inadvertent, or erroneous because of the error, misrepresentation, or inaction of a Federal employee, or any person authorized by the Federal government to act on its behalf.

(4)

(i) Except as provided in paragraph (ii), the individual is a full-subsidy eligible individual or other subsidy-eligible individual as defined in § 423.772, who is making an allowable onetime-per-calendar-quarter election between January through September.

(ii) An individual described in paragraph (i) is not eligible for this special enrollment period if he or she has been notified that he or she has been identified as a “potential at-risk beneficiary” or “at-risk beneficiary” as defined in § 423.100 and such identification has not been terminated in accordance with § 423.153(f)).