Medicare deadline hits; fee for late sign-ups debated

Enrollment in Medicare's new prescription drug benefit ends Monday, with insurers and many lawmakers saying Congress should eliminate the financial penalty for people who sign up late.Under one proposal, Monday still would be the deadline for enrollment, and beneficiaries would not have another chance to sign up until November. But people who sign up at the end of this year would be spared the late-enrollment penalty, a permanent surcharge that otherwise would increase all future premiums by 7 percent or more.



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