Drug prices & Part D
About 140,000 Wellcare Part D Members Were Dropped Mid-Year After Small New Premiums Were Added to Their Previously Free Plans
KFF Health News found that Wellcare terminated tens of thousands of drug plan members in April 2026 when minimal monthly premiums went unpaid, leaving many without prescription coverage and at risk for permanent Medicare drug enrollment penalties.
By the Goodsurance editorial teamSeptember 21, 2026
KFF Health News reported in July 2026 that Wellcare Health Plans terminated approximately 140,000 members of its Value Script prescription drug plan in April 2026 after introducing a monthly premium to a plan that had been free for years. Many members did not pay the new charge, prompting mid-year disenrollment across 26 states and Washington, D.C.
The premium amounts involved were small. In Nevada, some members owed as little as 8 dollars and 10 cents for three months of accumulated unpaid charges. One beneficiary in the KFF Health News reporting saw his monthly premium rise from zero to 3 dollars and 60 cents.
Wellcare dropped about 140,000 Part D members mid-year after adding small new premiums to formerly free plans, leaving many at risk for permanent Medicare drug penalties, KFF Health News found.
Wellcare said roughly 40,000 of those terminated may qualify for the federal Extra Help program, also called the Low-Income Subsidy, which can allow immediate re-enrollment in a Part D plan. The remaining members generally cannot rejoin a drug plan until the fall annual enrollment period for 2027 coverage, absent a qualifying special enrollment event.
The financial stakes of a coverage gap are real. Under Medicare rules, people who go 63 or more consecutive days without creditable prescription drug coverage face a permanent monthly surcharge added to their future Part D premiums. The reporting illustrated the exposure: one beneficiary faced approximately 1,800 dollars for a 90-day supply of a blood thinner without Part D coverage.
KFF Health News also noted that the annual notice of changes disclosing the new premium ran 21 pages, raising questions about whether members had a realistic opportunity to notice and act before being dropped.
In plain words
A Medicare drug plan called Wellcare Value Script dropped about 140,000 members in April 2026. This happened in the middle of the year, not at the usual end-of-year enrollment period.
The plan had cost nothing for years. Then Wellcare added a small monthly fee. Many people did not know about it or did not pay. So Wellcare removed them. Some owed only a few dollars total.
This is serious. Under Medicare rules, if you go 63 days or more without drug coverage, you get a permanent penalty added to your future monthly premiums. And without a drug plan, medicines can cost a lot. One person in the news story had to pay about 1,800 dollars for a 90-day supply of a blood thinner.
About 40,000 of the dropped members may qualify for Extra Help, a program for lower-income people that can let them rejoin a plan right away. Others must wait for open enrollment this October.
The notice that explained the new premium was 21 pages long.
Understand the basics first
Source: KFF Health News
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