Dear Friends, 

 

Over the past 3 years, The Biden-Harris Administration and Congressional Democrats have made significant progress in lowering the cost of health care, energy, utilities, and transportation for families across America. 

 

Recently, the Administration released important updates to Medicare, Federal Student Loan payments, and Veterans benefits that I wanted to share with you. As always, my constituent services team is here to answer any additional questions or help you resolve an issue with federal benefits.

Medicare

Each year, Medicare open enrollment runs from October 15^th to December 7^th. During this time, you can switch from original Medicare (Parts A & B) to a Medicare Advantage plan (Part C), or vice versa. You can also choose a new Medicare Advantage plan or a new Medicare Part D prescription drug plan. You can find more information Medicare open enrollment here.

 

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 has already made significant positive changes to Medicare, including: 

• In 2023, Medicare capped covered insulin costs in Part D prescription drug plans at $35 a month and eliminated out-of-pocket costs for recommended vaccines.
• In 2024, the government expanded eligibility for financial assistance from the Part D Extra Help program and announced results of negotiations to reduce the costs of 10 of Medicare’s most expensive drugs. These lower prices will take effect in 2026.

 

Additional exciting new changes that go into effect for Medicare plan year 2025 are as follows:

• $2,000 out-of-pocket spending cap for prescriptions, which applies to stand-alone Medicare Part D policies and drug coverage in Medicare Advantage plans. The $2,000 cap includes deductibles, copayments and coinsurance for covered drugs. 
• The elimination of the Part D ‘donut hole’ or coverage gap. This will simplify the way Part D works and reduce your costs. 
• All Medicare prescription drug plans — including both standalone Medicare prescription drug plans and Medicare Advantage plans with prescription drug coverage — will be required to offer enrollees the option to pay out-of-pocket prescription drug costs in the form of capped monthly installment payments instead of all at once at the pharmacy.
• Medicare Advantage plans will be required to send policyholders a personalized “Mid-Year Enrollee Notification of Unused Supplemental Benefits” every year in July. It will list all supplemental benefits the person hasn’t used, the scope and out-of-pocket cost for claiming each one, instructions on how to access the benefits, and a customer service number to call for more information.

Federal Student Loans

On July 18, 2024, a federal court issued an administrative stay that prevents the Department of Education (DOE) from offering the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan to allow the court time to consider the issue. Here’s how that might impact your loans: 

 

• If you were enrolled in the SAVE plan, the DOE will place your loans in “forbearance”.
  • This means SAVE borrowers will not have to make payments until the legal situation changes. 
  • Interest will not accrue during this forbearance. Borrowers, and employers on borrowers’ behalf, can make a payment during the forbearance. That payment will be applied to future bills due after the forbearance ends.
  • Time spent in forbearance will not count for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) and Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) forgiveness, however some borrowers may be eligible for “buy back months” of PSLF credit. 
  • Borrowers who do not want to be in this forbearance can contact their servicer to change repayment plans. There will still be forbearance associated with changing to certain repayment plans. 
• You can still apply to be in an income-driven repayment plan.
  • Borrowers may still apply for IDR plans and/or consolidate loans by submitting a PDF application. IDR applications can be submitted to your servicer by uploading it to your servicer’s website or mailing or faxing it to your servicer. Due to the injunction, the online IDR and consolidation loan applications on StudentAid.gov are temporarily not available. The DOE will inform borrowers when the online IDR and consolidation plan applications will be available in a timely fashion.
  • Borrowers can apply for the following income-driven repayment (IDR) plans: SAVE (previously known as REPAYE) and Income-Based Repayment (IBR). However, the terms of the SAVE Plan and other IDR plans are subject to the outcome of the ongoing litigation. As a result of the injunction, servicers have temporarily paused processing of IDR applications until the DOE can ensure applications are processed correctly. Borrowers should expect a lengthy delay in processing of applications. 

 

The DOE will regularly post legal, legislative, and operational updates on the SAVE Plan here and here.

Veterans

In 2022, Congress passed the Honoring Our PACT Act, which finally drew an association between burn pit exposure among veterans and certain ailments, including several cancers. August 10, 2024, marked the second anniversary of the bill being signed into law. The unity and leadership of House and Senate Democrats led to this monumental legislation being implemented just 24 hours after becoming law.

 

Since President Biden signed the PACT Act into law, the VA has delivered more than $1.4 billion in PACT Act benefits to veterans. Additionally, more than one million veterans and survivors have been granted PACT Act-related benefits.

 

Last August, the Democratic Caucus focused on informing veterans about the deadline for submitting an “Intent to File,” to ensure veterans can get benefits backdated to the date the bill was signed into law. At this one-year mark after that deadline, those veterans who submitted an Intent to File now need to submit their actual claim as soon as possible, to ensure they get the most out of the PACT Act. Veterans and their survivors have 365 days after submitting their Intent to File to submit their claim(s) and receive their backdated benefits.

 

What is an Intent To File (ITF)?

 

An Intent To File establishes a prospective start date (or effective date) for VA benefits. If an individual notifies VA of their ITF, and the claim is subsequently approved, retroactive payments may be granted. 

 

How you can submit an Intent To File:

• Online link
• By phone: call 800-827-1000 to notify of ITF
• By mail: Download and fill out an Intent to File a Claim for Compensation and/or Pension, or Survivors Pension and/or DIC (VA Form 21-0966). Get VA Form 21-0966 to download

 

If you need help submitting an Intent to File, you can work with an accredited

attorney, claims agent, or Veterans Service Organization (VSO) representative.

 

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I hope you find this update on my work for you helpful. To receive more updates like these, click here to sign up. If I can be of assistance with a federal issue or any other matter of concern, please email me here or call one of my offices listed below.

 

Sincerely,

 

Jerrold Nadler

Member of Congress